High Bounce
by Oh-no-she-di'ent
Summary: Luke discovers that Nicole has a dirty little sock man secret. Enter Lorelai. Sometimes all you need to get through the hard times is a little friendship...etc, etc. Takes place S4. Story's done. Rated M for language and that extra etcetera.


_**Disclaimer:**_ No association or affiliation. Just plenty of admiration.

Story: Season 4 where Luke finds Nicole with the sock man, though it borrows bits and pieces from other episodes – No Jason – Lorelai and Luke prehookup – Lorelai helps Luke cope – Rating is M.

Heyyyyy all!!! Here's my contribution to the Support Stacie auction. It's only about 26,000 more words than I signed up for, and I **wish** I could say it was intentional. We all know I have problems. To my buyer, pinkhammer33: kisses, hugs, blow pops, and roses from me to you. Thanks for putting up the money and thanks so much for your patience and kindness. It was a pleasure writing this for you. I hope you like the story. To **all** readers: I hope you like the story!!! I now present to you: _High Bounce_…..cause I hear that with all falls come the ability to bounce back. :) Enjoy.

**High Bounce**

Luke opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside. He removed the key from the lock and tossed the entire set several feet away. They hit the edge of the kitchen table and fell to the floor. "Come on in," he said tiredly. Lorelai pursed her lips and crossed the threshold tentatively. She pushed the door closed and watched him walk past the keys on the floor and over to his refrigerator. He grabbed a beer from inside and turned to her as he unscrewed the top, not bothering to close the door back. The refrigerator light created a long, prominent shadow of him that extended to the far wall of his bedroom.

The apartment was dark save for that light and the ones provided by streetlamps.

Luke took a long sip while looking at Lorelai look at him. He lowered the bottle and flicked his wrist, sending the bottle cap sailing onto the counter, then into the sink. Once that brief clink came to an end, he let out a small belch then asked, "What?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Nothing," she replied automatically.

He rolled his eyes and moved away from the door, allowing it to close. A large amount of light disappeared from the room. "It's something alright. What is it, Lorelai? Do you think I'm self-destructing?" he asked derisively.

He heard her scoff. The sarcasm wasn't too far behind. "Yeah, that's exactly what I think, Luke. One beer and you're going totally mad. I suggest you stand down because the S.W.A.T team will be here shortly."

"Mm," he grumbled in acknowledgement. He pulled out a kitchen chair, kicked his keys across the floor, and sat down. Lorelai's shoes echoed across the hardwood then the main light came on. Luke looked above like that sort of brightness was something new to him. He lowered his eyes to Lorelai and took another long sip, which nearly emptied his bottle. Lorelai stopped, kneeled, and picked up his keys. Luke set his bottle down with a thud. "Leave 'em," he said with a disinterested wave of his hand.

She stood up with them. "They're on the floor," she stated unnecessarily.

He smirked. "You don't say."

She made it to the table and set them down. "Well, do they belong on the floor?" she followed with a smile.

"They looked happy there." Luke drank the rest of his beer then held the bottle up to Lorelai who stood in front of the chair next to his. "Did you want one of these?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, thanks."

He stood. "Sorry I didn't ask before. How _rude_ of me," he chaffed.

"Tell me about it. You're going for your second, and only then did you remember that you have a guest." Without turning, she grabbed his wrist securely. He stopped and looked back.

"Changed your mind?" he asked.

She pulled and got him near his seat again before letting him go. With a smile, she pulled out her own chair. "Nope. Didn't change my mind," she answered.

He pointed at his wrist and watched her get settled. "Then, what's this about?"

She gestured at his chair. "Sit?"

"For what?"

"Because I asked you to." She pointed again. "Please."

He rolled his eyes and moved toward the refrigerator again. "Let me grab a beer first. Something tells me I'm going to need it."

Lorelai sighed and slid out of her jacket. Luke returned with a beer, turned his chair around and climbed on it backwards while facing her. He popped the top and brought the bottle to his lips. Lorelai leaned on the table and watched quietly as he drank large gulps fast. He drained it without effort.

When he lowered the empty bottle to the table, she pointed at it. "Do you feel better?"

Luke leaned on his chair. "Not even close," he said. He rubbed his eyes. "I have a few more cases, though. Give it time."

She stared with no amusement. Finally, there was a sympathizing sigh as she leaned on the table further.

"Time for a stupid question," she announced.

"Shoot."

"How are you?"

He laughed. He laughed, and it was the worst sound that could have filled that space. It was so bitter that it was nearly painful. "I'm fantastic, Lorelai. Don't I look it?" He stood up again and went to the refrigerator. Lorelai rolled her eyes and waited for him to come back into her line of sight. Her back was to the fridge. When he sat back down, he placed a beer in front of her then unscrewed the cap on his third. He tossed the top in the air, and it landed straight into the sink with the other. "Nothing but net," he declared. The lip of the bottle went between both of his and he drank.

Lorelai watched him thoughtfully.

He set the bottle down when it was half-full. "Absolutely fantastic," he reiterated.

She nodded. "And it's obvious too," she attributed. She didn't smile at her sarcasm because it wasn't said to humor.

Luke folded his arms on the back of the chair and met Lorelai's eyes. "I guess that's that."

"That's that…" she followed.

"That's _that_," he said again with emphasis.

"Your marriage?" she asked quietly.

He nodded. Of course he had meant his marriage. What else could he have been talking about after finding out his wife had been screwing someone behind his back? With that small reminder came the desire to drown out all thoughts. He lifted his bottle and drank the last half of his alcohol. The empty bottle went to sit beside the other two. He pointed a finger at Lorelai's beer.

"Are you going to drink that?"

She glanced at it. "Not really in a beer mood tonight. Sorry."

He shrugged. "Why not? You're a friend, aren't you?"

Her brows came together. "Of course," she said. It was the reason she had come to bail him out of jail after he'd been caught beating up the car of his wife's fuck buddy. It was the reason she was sitting in his kitchen at something to midnight when she had to be to work so early the next day. Of course she was a friend.

He followed with, "Well, friends usually drink when friends drink."

She chuckled, thinking he was starting to get drunk off of his three beers. "What?"

He sighed and seemed to get annoyed at being laughed at. "If I'm upset and drinking, a friend would join in and attempt to keep up."

"Not if that friend had to be at work seven o'clock in the morning, they wouldn't," she defended while looking at him warily.

For a moment he said nothing, and then with a hint of embarrassment asked, "You have to be to work at seven?"

She nodded. "Got a meeting with some work people." She smiled. "Is that a good enough excuse or are you still thinking about how horrible a friend I am?"

He took a heavy breath. "No. You're good." He rested his chin on his arms. "Sorry 'bout that," he finished quietly.

"Don't worry about it," she followed. She clasped her hands in her lap and looked at him. "So, you're upset...?" she asked cautiously, remembering what had come from his mouth a few moments ago. She wanted him to talk. She just didn't know the chances of him actually doing that.

He unfolded his arms and reached for her beer. "I'm pissed," he said calmly.

She watched wistfully as he undid the twist cap and dropped it to the table. "I can imagine," she said.

He drank a quick sip. "Can you?" he asked shortly.

She paused, then nodded with apprehension. She wasn't sure if he was about to turn on her for some reason. She wanted to be a shoulder, but with Luke, it was never easy. He took another sip while looking at her. He lowered the bottle and went on, allowing Lorelai to release the breath she was holding onto.

"Ignore me, okay?"

Her eyes went to where he peeled and secured his beer bottle label repeatedly. "Ignore you?" she asked confusedly.

He smiled with a corner of his mouth. "If I come off like a jerk, ignore me. I don't mean it." Again, he laughed that painful laugh. "At least not to you. You didn't do anything."

She nodded her understanding. "Okay. Thanks for the caveat," she said lightheartedly. He looked up at her, and she smiled. He returned it in kindness. Then, he brought the bottle back to his mouth and drank until he had another bottle ready for the recycling bin.

He stood up again and went to the fridge. Lorelai bit her tongue and refrained from commenting.

He returned to his chair with two beers alone in what used to be a six-pack. He took one out and took the top off. After a light sip, he let the bottle hang between his fingers as he rested on the back of the chair again.

"Where was I?" he asked.

"Um…" She searched through her thoughts. All she could think about was how alcohol wasn't going to solve much. "You were telling me about how you, uh, felt," she finished.

He raised a finger in remembrance. "Ah, yeah. Feelings." He set his bottle down then sat up in his chair. "It was wrong what she did, wasn't it? I mean, I'm not crazy, am I? It was wrong, right?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Of course it was wrong what she did!" she replied instantly.

He nodded. "Good. Just so I know I'm not crazy here."

"You're definitely not crazy. You have reason to be upset, Luke. A huge reason."

"Pissed," he corrected.

She looked at him. "What's the difference?" she asked.

"Upset is small time. If I wanted to lie in bed and cry myself to sleep, I'd be upset. Pissed is where I'm at. Pissed is when you end up in jail for doing something stupid, you get out, and then feel like you could do something to go right back in there. Jail is filled with pissed off people."

Lorelai didn't appear to know what to say. "Oh," she said after a moment.

He looked at her and his voice got soft. "Don't look so terrified. I don't mean whatever it is you're thinking."

"What…am I thinking?" she asked in a way that said he'd hit the nail on the head.

"Assault," he supplied bluntly. He rolled his eyes when she dropped hers. "I'm insulted that you'd think something like that, Lorelai. You know me better than that."

She looked at him in apology. "You're right, I do. And I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't be. It's not like you're familiar with the just-got-cheated-on Luke. I can imagine he's a little scary."

She smiled. "He's not that scary," she said confidingly.

He picked his beer back up. "Right. Just irrational." He took a few gulps and set it back down. He rubbed across the top of his hat. "Worst case scenario is I go beat up on _her_ car next. I'm a bumper bully." He chuckled at himself. Lorelai smiled.

"Well I, for one, hope your car kicking days are behind you. This time my jeep was pretty understanding, and she tolerated the ride home. Next time you go attacking her kind, she may not be such a gracious hostess."

He lifted his lazy, droopy eyes to Lorelai. "Tell the jeep I'm sorry," he said lethargically. "I was just--"

"Pissed," she finished. "I remember."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah."

Silence. Lorelai watched him drink the last of his fifth beer. He took the sixth one out and spun it on the table thoughtfully. Seconds more were lost. He glanced up at her and saw how she was looking patiently at the bottle that he toyed with. When his eyes moved to hers, hers moved to his, and he saw the worry.

He hesitated before speaking quietly. "We were over." He sighed and moved the bottle around more. "Before all of this, we were over. I knew it. And she knew it too. _Obviously_," he added scathingly.

Lorelai began to think of something supportive to say. But she came up empty. She had never saw Nicole being right for him anyway. She was a lawyer, after all—married to someone who'd given many a rant on the lack of integrity in the whole profession. Plus, she was just…not _right_ for him.

"So the, uh, whole pissed thing is coming from where exactly?" she asked with curiosity.

Luke snorted. "She's my wife," he stated snidely.

Lorelai's head fell. She knew Luke had gone off and gotten himself tied down. She knew he was married. But there were times when it somehow managed to slide between the cracks of reality. Even if just for a few seconds. It didn't make it any less of a fact, but she simply forgot about it. Then, in one heavy instance, it would occur to her in different ways. It happened all the time. And the feeling would be one that was hard to describe. It was one that she'd never have the courage to put into words. It would feel like a shock to her senses. It was rather painful and was accompanied by a heartbeat on overdrive. It'd slow quickly though. So quickly, in fact, that it'd become commonplace for her to ignore that it had even happened.

She took a breath a second later and looked at him. "Yeah. She is your wife," she acknowledged. "Silly question."

He shook his head. "Who in the hell wants to be cheated on?" He grabbed the last beer. "We should have ended this marriage when we got back from that cruise." He drank a rough sip. "But no. Now, it's ending in adultery. Just what every man wants."

"I'm so sorry, Luke."

"I am too." He drank again. "It should have never happened," he said while staring at the tabletop. "This marriage. It's something that _never_ should have happened in the first place," he stressed thoughtfully. A long quiet caused his eyes to move to Lorelai. Her eyes reflected sadness. He said what was on his mind while attempting to lighten the mood. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him. "Just hurts the pride, you know?" She nodded at his words. He smiled and lifted the bottle again. "That's where the pissed thing is coming from."

"Understandable."

He drank more. "If she wanted out, she could have gotten out. But the cheating thing…" He shook his head in disapproval. "It's belittling, you know? And disrespectful. A reckless marriage is still a marriage."

"I agree," Lorelai added quietly.

Luke lifted his hand and stared at the back of it. Lorelai followed his eyes and saw what had his attention. She stared at the ring that decorated his hand. Next moment, it was being tossed to the table. "Fucking joke," he mumbled under his breath.

He stood up, and with his legs still on either side of the chair, he emptied another bottle before sitting it down and lifting his leg over the chair to go back to the refrigerator. He sighed deeply. "You're a good listener, Lorelai. Anyone ever tell you that? I mean, you're an _excellent_ talker, but you listen good too."

"Well, I figured these things on the side of my head were good for something other than to decorate with pretty diamonds," she said distractedly as she watched Luke walk back over with a beer in each hand. She stood up. "Hey, uh…" She took the bottles from him and set them on the table. Luke looked at her then the bottles. "Remember that self-destructing thing you mentioned earlier?" she asked with a smile. She placed a hand on both his arms and pushed him gently away from the table. They made it to the middle of the floor before she dropped her hands and pointed at the couch.

"This seems like a safer sitting area," she said.

Luke rolled his eyes and moved around her. He re-entered the kitchen and picked up both full bottles of beer.

Lorelai swept a hand through her hair and sighed exhaustedly. "Luke," she pleaded.

"Relax," he said over his shoulder as he headed back over to the fridge. "I'm just putting them back." Accomplished, he turned back to face her. He saw a look of relief on her face. "Happy?" he asked anyway.

She smiled a gentle smile. "Thank you," was her response.

He nodded and went to the table where he placed all of the empty bottles inside of the carton. He tossed the tops inside and went to set everything on the countertop. "I guess I'm done for the night," he announced. "Lorelai's orders." He turned and moved languidly into the living room where Lorelai still stood.

She looked down to her shoes before meeting his eyes. He had stopped a couple of feet away. "Do you…want to talk?" she asked with consideration.

He shrugged lazily. "I've talked," he answered. "I've vented, steamed, gave you lots of insight to what a loveless marriage looks like in the final stages. I'd say I'm one hangover away from pulling myself together quite well."

Lorelai stared.

He'd said loveless marriage. In his compressed oration, he had revealed that he had entered into a loveless marriage.

Those words alerted Lorelai's senses. Once shocked at the mere reminder of the marriage, when accompanied with such an awful description, it left behind relief. It wasn't lost on her how terrible it was to feel such a way. But she quickly found justification. Luke's overall pain would be lessened with that truth. So she imagined her relief came with knowing how well he'd bounce back from the whole ordeal.

"Well…if you need to talk some more, I'm here."

He smiled. "Thanks. I'm okay, though."

She nodded. "Okay. Just remember I'm here for you. We've all been there."

"Been where?"

"You know." The look of sympathy reappeared, and then disappeared as she pointed a quick finger in his direction. "At the shitty end of a transgression."

His brows furrowed. "Cheated on?" he said outright. She nodded. He stood there silently, his eyes taking her in as he fought the building effects of the quickly consumed alcohol in his system. He sounded amused when he went on. "You've been cheated on?" She was baffled at his amusement but nodded anyway. "_You_?" he repeated like he wasn't buying it.

She bit. "I'm sorry, why is that funny?" she asked with a confused smile of her own.

He answered so casually, it had her rearing her head back. "It's not funny. It's shocking."

Her mouth formed an 'O' as she worked to figure out the answer to her forthcoming question on her own. Coming up with nothing, she let out a slow, "Why?"

Again with the casual response. "It just is."

"O…_kaaay_."

He chuckled. A real chuckle. "Why'd you say it like that?"

She smiled at him. His smile was something she would have put on a top hat and danced around for given the circumstances of that night. And she got it without risking humiliation. She answered his question while appreciating his temporary glow. "Because you did nothing to satisfy my curiosity," she said engrossingly.

"Oh."

"That's all I get? _'Oh'_?"

He rolled his eyes. "_Oh_ as in 'oh you answered my question'."

"Must be nice."

"It is."

She nodded. "Good."

He paused. "What must be nice?" he asked.

She laughed. She knew he had no idea what she'd been referring to. But he was stubborn. Much like her. "It must be nice to have your question answered," she clarified. "I'm jealous."

He exhaled loudly and clipped the cute, back and forth thing they had going when he dropped his demeanor and seemed to remember how his night had played out. "You just don't seem like the type to get cheated on. That's all." He walked past her, causing her to turn. Her mood returned serious as well.

"And _you_ do?" she asked him pointedly.

"I have a wife who's making me a qualifier as we speak."

_Wife_ reverberated. _Loveless_ danced behind it, and she was back.

"Luke, if you're in a marriage that isn't right—if you're in a marriage with someone who you have no business being with, those are the kinds of things that happen. Neither of you were happy. You said it yourself. What she did had absolutely nothing to do with you."

He sat down on his bed and looked at Lorelai who now stood wide-eyed by his bathroom. He squinted. "When exactly did you get cheated on?" he asked curiously.

Her forehead wrinkled and her brows nearly connected. "What?"

"Was it in high school? I bet it was in high school, wasn't it? Or better yet, middle school."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Which one was it?"

"Oh my god." She stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't believe he was fixating on something that trivial when a much bigger matter rested on his plate. He stared back silently waiting for an answer. She frowned at his awaiting expression. Finally, she scoffed. "It was high school!"

He nodded genially and dropped his eyes to the floor. "Figured."

She took a calming breath after waiting in vain for him to say something else. "Totally different playing field, I know. But it still hurt."

"Yeah." He brought in his lips as he returned his focus to her. Lorelai cocked her head and studied him. She couldn't be sure, but it looked like he was holding in a smile. With his following words, a tiny one came to rest on his lips. "Sorry for your hardship."

She paused. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Of course not," he answered with no effort to convince. "We're one of a kind, you and me. I'm dealing with an extramarital affair, and you had to deal with your ninth grade sweetheart inviting somebody else to the sock hop. Heartache to heartache we stand," he ended plainly.

He was, in fact, making fun of her.

She folded her arms. On any other night, she would have done more than toss a caustic smile his way. But this was hardly any other night. If teasing her would help him to forget, she was all for it. She replied with, "How'd you know it was in the ninth grade?"

After the words left her mouth, she realized it wasn't too hard to figure out. She'd gotten pregnant with Rory in the tenth grade, and by the beginning of eleventh, her high school career had come to an end. Despite her realization, her question still hung in the air.

"Lucky guess," Luke answered. He took a heavy breath and rolled his neck around, working out tightness and stress. "Besides, the younger, the more believable," he added casually.

Lorelai looked at him in silence as she now leaned on the wall. His continued incredulity had her drawing blanks. She had many memories, instances, and emotional scars that proved she wasn't remotely above getting hurt by the opposite sex. But he spoke as if she couldn't possibly be humanized in such a way.

She wasn't sure if he was tossing weird compliments at her or if he was finding creative ways to make his situation seem even worse, if that was possible.

Whatever it was, she worked hard to move past it for fear of over-analyzing something that wasn't that deep.

"Beer kicking in?" she asked him.

He stopped his lazy head winds and brought his hand to his neck. His eyes moved to her. "Got a little buzz," was his reply.

Lorelai could see in his eyes that he had more than a _little buzz_. He was a beer guy, but while the tolerance was there, she doubted that he usually downed that many that quickly. "That's it?" she asked in an unassuming way.

He nodded. "You intercepted the real party."

She smiled, and her eyes dropped to his feet as he reached down and started undoing his shoes. With a look at her wristwatch, she stood upright. "Well, Luke, it's getting sort of late," she said apologetically. She calculated the few hours of sleep that she was already restricted to, and it made her want to sob. Still, she followed her statement with, "It looks like you're about to turn in, but if not, I can stay a bit longer. We can play Jenga or something."

He frowned and she smiled further.

He waved her away. "No, go on home. It's…what, twelve?" he asked with uncertainty as he squinted at his bedside clock. He determined it was. "Damn, it's after midnight," he said to himself. He spoke louder again. "Go home and get rested for your day. Thanks for the company."

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, knowing she'd stay if he asked her to.

He sighed, just showing his overall exhaustion. "Yeah," he responded. "Do you, uh…" He pointed back toward the door. "You need me to walk you home?"

"Drove. Remember?"

He nodded hugely. "Oh yeah. I forgot," he replied in a sluggish tone.

She chuckled. "Besides, I think it's best if you just stay put."

He shrugged. "Yeah, sure." He stood and kicked off his boots. "I'll walk you downstairs, though. Gotta lock up behind you anyway."

She nodded and then headed toward the door ahead of him. She opened the apartment door, and they both exited. "Hey, Luke?" Lorelai asked as she began descending the staircase. He followed, not too far behind.

"Yeah?" he answered. They were, now, halfway down, and she didn't say anything in response. He said louder, "Yeah?" Lorelai made it to the bottom, pushed aside the curtain, and turned as she waited for him to emerge. He did, looking at her with wide eyes. "What? Why'd you call me?"

She sighed, meeting his eyes. "Are you going to wallow?" she asked, her tone resigned. Because she already knew his answer.

He looked at her as if she had stepped outside of her mind. "Wallow?" he repeated. "What do I need to wallow for?"

She pulled her purse onto her shoulder more and crossed her arms over her chest. "Because," she answered. "It's just what you're supposed to do after something like this happens."

He relaxed. "No, Lorelai. I'm not going to wallow," he responded evenly. He turned and walked toward the diner door. "What I _am_ going to do, though, is go to bed, get up, and then continue on with the rest of my life. I definitely don't need wallowing to help me accomplish that," he finished.

She followed behind him, nodding at his words that had played out in her head before he'd even spoken them. She wasn't shocked at all.

"How about you come over to my place tomorrow night."

He stopped and turned to face her. "Do what?" he asked with agitation.

Lorelai didn't bother taking it personally. "I want you to come to my house tomorrow," she repeated. "Rory and I used to have habitual movie nights, but her schedule is all over the place, and I've found that I'm pretty much expendable in her new life," she said amusedly. She and Luke were eye to eye, so she saw his expression soften. She perked up and went on before he could comment on how she really felt about her separation from Rory.

"But, uh, it does leave an opening for my movie night companion." She shrugged as if it was a meaningless suggestion. "Why don't you come over and keep me company. It'll be fun."

He squinted at her. "And do what, _wallow_?" he asked with distaste.

She laughed. "No, this is something completely separate. The wallowing idea is ancient history. Promise."

He remained suspicious. "Why are you inviting me now? What was the inspiration behind inviting me _now_ when Rory has been busy at school for months?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because I'm an evil, manipulative devil woman," she answered risibly. He smiled and stuffed his hands in his back pockets. "So, what'll it be, Luke? Join me for a night of gluttony and debauchery?"

His confusion showed. "Debauchery?" he questioned.

Lorelai snapped her fingers. "Oh, shoot. Sorry, that was plan B. Forget I said anything," she summed up quickly. "Back to the movie thing. You in or you in?" she asked with a bright smile.

He sighed. A long, heavy, drawn out sigh. "To avoid exposure to whatever plan B is, I guess I'm…" He squinted. "What was that second choice again?"

She smiled. "In. In and in," she repeated fast.

He shook his head, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. "I'm in," he conceded.

"Success!" Lorelai's arm shot in the air triumphantly.

"Jeez," he muttered.

"So, since we're doing this, you want to run through some movie titles? I don't want to pick up something that you've already seen."

"Pick anything. I promise whatever you choose will be new for me."

"_His Girl Friday_?" she suggested off-handedly.

"Sappy?"

"Hardly."

He frowned deep. "Boring?"

"Not in the least," she answered, not missing a beat.

He tossed a hand up and let it fall to his thigh. "Sounds like a winner. Let's go with that one."

She smiled. "Good. My house six o'clock."

He nodded one time with understanding. "See you then."

Lorelai walked the last few steps to the door and turned back to Luke just in time to see his slight wobble as he started walking over too. She opened the door and held it as she looked at him. "Get some sleep, okay, Luke?"

He met her eyes and nodded like he was confused at the concern that sat in her voice. "I plan to," he responded mockingly.

A soft smile formed on her lips. She tapped the door with her fingers and started moving again. "Night."

He half-waved. "Yeah, 'night. And, uh, thanks…" She turned back. "for everything," he continued. "Picking me up…and dropping me off…thanks."

"No thanks necessary. Just be at my house tomorrow night." She pointed at him. "Don't be late," she warned with a serious tilt of her head.

Luke nodded.

When she made it to her jeep, he closed and locked the door before turning off the last light in the diner.

While rubbing his weary eyes, he dragged himself upstairs to bed.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"What a witch."

"I know, right! My thoughts exactly. Green-faced, pointy-nosed witch, that one." Lorelai poured herself some coffee as Sookie continued to react to the news she'd just been told.

"Did you get to see the 'sockman' guy? Was he at least cute?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai put the coffee pot down and retrieved her cell from the crook of her shoulder. "Sook!" she admonished. "That is so completely irrelevant!

"Was he?" she asked, undeterred.

Lorelai looked over her shoulder, finding the air still clear. "I don't know. Didn't see him," she answered calmer. "But like I said: _irrelevant_."

"Alright, alright."

Lorelai moved closer to the counter and reached underneath for ketchup. She passed it to the customer that was currently having a conniption over it. After silencing the customer, she put her phone back between her shoulder and cheek and started preparing her coffee to her liking while standing behind the diner's counter like she belonged there.

"Anyway, my night is set. And that's the reason. I'm going to spend the evening with him."

"You mean Luke?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai looked up at Andrew who sat on a stool looking into her face as she talked. She'd whispered the details to Sookie while pressed up near the wall. But now that she was in the open, she didn't want to give anyone any insight as to what she was discussing.

"Yeah. Him," she answered, turning attention back to her cup. She'd gotten off work later than anticipated, so she decided to meet up with Luke at the diner.

Sookie nodded into the phone. "Well, okay. I guess Jackson and I can have our spontaneous liaison next week sometime," she lamented, unable to get Lorelai over to babysit four-month old Davey.

"I'm so sorry babe. Any other time, you know I--"

"Yeah, honey. I know. Don't worry about it."

Lorelai sipped her coffee and found it to be perfect. She sighed contentedly. "Alright, Sook, I'm going to have to let you go before Luke comes back and catches me on the phone."

"Ooh, yeah. Hang up quick. Definitely don't want to incur that wrath. Then, with the infidelity thing? Oh, it wouldn't be good at all."

Lorelai grimaced a little and moved back toward the wall, near the phone that hung there. "Hey, Sookie…what I told you, don't tell anyone, okay?"

"About Luke?"

"Yeah. I didn't…" She looked around, then went back to conversing. "…I didn't really intend to tell you. You just called at the right-wrong moment, asking me to come over, and Luke and I are about to take off, and… it kind of came out because of the best friends forever, no secrets ever-ever-ever thing you and I swore to."

Sookie thought. "We never swore to anything."

"Well, it's implied. Anyway, just do me a solid, okay? The divorce, itself, won't be a shock to the town, but as far as specifics--"

Sookie answered fast. "Consider my lips zipped."

Lorelai smiled. "You're the best, Sook."

"Hey!"

Luke's voice caused Lorelai to jump. She was facing the diner's windows and she leaned down more as if she'd become invisible. "Sorry, babe, got to go. Give Davey a kiss for me," she said quickly before snapping her phone shut. She stood up and turned around with a bright smile that showed confusion at Luke's outburst.

"What's with you?" she asked, picking up her coffee and taking a sip.

Luke rolled his eyes and stopped by the coffee pot. He lifted it and poured some into a customer's mug. "Not only are you on your cell phone, but you're behind my counter while doing it. What do you see wrong with that picture?"

She shrugged. "I don't see a thing wrong with it. Few more obscure brush strokes, maybe a naked chick beside me, and it's Picasso-lite."

"Get on the other side of the counter, Lorelai."

She stayed in place. "Are you about ready to go?" she asked.

Luke returned the pot back to the base and looked toward the door. He picked up a rag and swiped it across the counter. "Lane's not here yet. How long 'til six?" he asked her.

"About eight minutes."

He tossed the rag back under the counter and regarded Lorelai briefly. "Then, I'll be ready in eight minutes."

"Look how that worked out! Talk about your _coincidences_!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. She smiled. "I tell you to move, and you take that for 'stand here and ignore Luke completely' huh?"

She gasped. "Get out of my head, Luke! Get ouuut!" She playfully knocked her own head around.

Luke shook his head at her and moved past her with a plate of food. She turned on the balls of her feet like a little kid and watched him move about. His mannerisms were the same. The gruffness didn't have any additives worth dissecting. That observation made her smile. She would have hated to see him sulking around, barely able to function after the previous night's events. When he came back around the counter, he questioned her smile with a look. But he moved on past. She got behind him and followed him like a shadow. "Hey, Lucas, I think I left my jacket upstairs last night." She spoke quieter than usual. Last thing she wanted was for someone to overhear, then get the wrong idea. It happened easily in the small town.

"So go get it," he said not paying her much attention.

He stopped abruptly and bent down at the waist to retrieve some relish beneath the counter. Lorelai's front hit his bottom since she was on him too close to prepare for the stop.

With a quickly uttered "whoopsy", she backed up. She chuckled then. "If I were a guy, you so would have been turned out just then."

Luke stood up fast and pointed to the curtain. "Go."

She laughed at that. Her hand went to his arm, and she squeezed a little. His stern look faded, and she dropped her hand, satisfied he wasn't completely sick of her. "Can you come up too? If a flannel gets missing, I don't want to get blamed. I need witnesses."

He rolled his eyes and gestured for her to lead the way. He had to go up for his wallet anyway before they left.

When they made it inside of the apartment, Lorelai spotted her jacket exactly where she had left it on the kitchen chair. She walked over and spoke over her shoulder, her tone more serious than it had been downstairs.

"Are you excited about tonight, Luke?" she asked.

He moved some things around on his dresser in search of his wallet. "Yeah," he answered distractedly. "Something to get me out of the house. Can never go wrong with that," he finished as he found his wallet and stuck it in his back pocket.

"Glad I could be of service."

He met her in the middle of the apartment. "I know. You're good that way," he responded.

She smiled.

They started to walk out, but Luke stopped and turned. "Let me run to the bathroom," he muttered. Lorelai nodded. He took a few steps, then the phone rang. Luke pointed at it without looking. "Can you answer that for me?" he asked. "It's probably my bread guy. He'll let the phone ring about two times in the diner before calling up here. I've told him about doing that," he ended as he closed the bathroom door.

"Uh...yeah, I'll get it," Lorelai answered finally. It was said more to herself though. She felt a bit weird answering Luke's personal line.

She picked up the phone. "Hello," she said.

There was a pregnant pause, and then, "He-llo?"

It definitely wasn't the bread guy. Bread gal, maybe.

"Hi," Lorelai followed questioningly. "How can I help you?"

"Uh, am I reaching Luke's…residence?"

First thought Lorelai had was that Luke had gotten back on the dating scene really, really fast. So fast, in fact, that one may be inclined to think that he'd been on there the same time as Nicole.

"You are," she answered. "If you can hold on one second, he should be--"

"Who exactly am I speaking to?" the voice asked curtly.

Lorelai sort of laughed a bit. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't see a problem giving you my name—really, I wouldn't. But this is kind of starting to play out like a bad suspense movie, i.e. _Scream_, and if you're going to get my name only to start with the gutted out boyfriend, making-me-burn-my-jiffy-pop games, then I'd like to get a heads up if you don't mind. Out of courtesy. Or, if the option is there, I'd really prefer to opt out, which I feel is best for everybody because I'm _far_ from being blonde, and as far as being a teenager--"

"Lorelai," the caller determined knowingly.

Lorelai paused. "Oh..kay. That's a really good guess."

"This is Nicole," she provided.

"Oh." Lorelai froze. She wondered what Nicole could possibly want. "Uh…hi. How are you d-doing?"

"I'm great. Thanks for asking," she replied without much emotion. "Is Luke there?"

Lorelai closed her eyes as she thought. She suddenly couldn't conjure up anything other than intolerable amounts of discomfort. Finally, an answer to Nicole's question came barreling through. She waited a few additional seconds until she felt she'd attained her normal thinking ability. "Um. Yeah, Nicole. Luke's here. Hold on." Before she could place the phone down, Nicole was continuing on.

Lorelai heard the toilet flush. She took a breath.

"Just out of curiosity," she began, "what exactly are you doing there?" Her tone wasn't critical. It was conversational. But given the question, itself, it wasn't hard to tell it wouldn't be followed with comments about the weather.

Lorelai stared at the bathroom door longingly. She sighed once. Tiredly. "I'm just here, I guess. Hold on for Luke." Before Nicole could say anything else, Lorelai laid the phone on the table.

The bathroom door opened and Luke walked out. "Hey," Lorelai greeted, glad to see him. She pointed at the phone. "Telephone. For you."

He moved toward her. "Well, yeah, I figured that much." He reached for the phone at the exact moment that Caesar came rushing inside of the open front door. Luke lifted the handset and set it back down at Caesar's words.

"Hey, Luke! Fire. In the kitchen," he stated out of breath.

"What?!" Luke demanded.

Caesar held out his hand to calm him down. "It's out now. It was just a small grease fire, but the smoke is sort of wafting into--"

"Damn it, I'll be right back," Luke told Lorelai before he was hurrying out of the apartment behind Caesar.

Lorelai's eyes went from the door, to the phone, and back again. "Great," she whispered before picking up the phone again. "Nicole?"

"Yes?"

"Sorry, Luke is busy right now. The diner is burning down or something," she said without thought. "Or…whatever," she added, closing her eyes. She realized how her words sounded, but she felt very little desire to clarify. That would mean more time on the phone. "Anyway, can he call you back?"

"The diner is burning down?" Nicole repeated with skepticism.

Lorelai bounced slightly, and the sound of agitation was heard in the breath she took. "I'm just letting you know that he's not available, so do you want him to call you back?"

"Sure."

There was a sigh of relief. "Okay, I'll let him know you cal--"

"Or you can put him on the phone _now_, please."

"Excuse me?" Lorelai asked with full displeasure at the tone Nicole had used.

"Lorelai, I heard his voice a second ago, so please don't take me for an idiot. I just need to speak with him for a moment. Please."

With each 'please' she used, Lorelai felt an imaginary hand patting her head like a good dog.

"I told you he's not _in here_. There really _was_ a fire, and he's downstairs tending _to_ that fire. I don't have any reason to lie to you, Nicole."

She sighed loudly, and then started talking like she was in a courtroom. "Did I or did I not just hear his voice?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes to the ceiling, and she couldn't help but chuckle. "This is ridiculous," she muttered.

"Please answer the question."

Lorelai lost her patience. "Listen, Nicole, this is the last time I'm telling you that Luke is not in this apartment. He can't pick up the phone because he's not in the apartment. The apartment is here. I am here. But Luke is not. He's in one place, and the apartment is in another. If it were not for me standing here on this phone talking to you, telling you over and over that Luke is not in this apartment, this apartment would be completely devoid of all human life. Get the point?"

A long pause led Lorelai to believe that maybe Nicole had actually heard her that time. But it was nothing more than wishful thinking.

"Okay, let's say that Luke is…_downstairs_," began Nicole. The way she said it let Lorelai know that she was definitely using some form of air quotes, driving her hypothetical situation home with zest. "Let's say he is down there, and he somehow threw his voice and made it sound like he was standing right next to you…"

"Mmhm," Lorelai responded, shaking her head all the while at how draining the woman was.

Nicole went on. "If all of that is true, why are you in his apartment?" she ended calmly. "Why exactly are you upstairs in his apartment right now, Lorelai?"

Lorelai dropped her chin to her chest and spoke quiet words that she didn't really intend to speak. "That's none of your business, Nicole." She raised her head and frowned at the nerve of her. "I can't believe you woul—are you _seriously_ asking me that?" she asked, her voice raising more.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Luke my husband?" she followed as though she was perfectly within her rights for indignation.

Lorelai's blood boiled. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you…" _fucking_ _somebody else? Fucking somebody else? FUCKING SOMEBODY ELSE who is __**not**__ your husband_?! her internal voice repetitively shouted. She wanted to say it. With everything she had inside of her, she wanted to hurt the woman to her core with those words. And if those didn't sting—if having a mirror thrown up to her face did nothing to further rot that already rotten core, she wanted to throw logs on the fire, blow it, and make it burn like a raging inferno as she called her every vile name in the book. Everything but a child of God. She would do this as she branded a metaphorical 'A' onto her chest, giving the mirror more to reflect.

She wanted to so very badly. But it was something that would never happen.

They were adults. And the woman with the nasty core was still the wife of Luke. Luke would get to choose how to handle the events he witnessed the previous night. Not her. Not a near stranger to the woman in question.

Nicole spoke up at Lorelai's pause. "Aren't I what?" she asked snootily.

Lorelai bit her lip and released it slow. "Aren't you…" She rolled her eyes back in her head at her own need to rise above, "Aren't you supposed to trust your husband, Nicole?" she finished in a quiet tone of voice.

"It's not my husband that I don't trust."

Lorelai looked high for strength. She swallowed words. Ones that didn't go down easily at all. "I'm…going to, uh, have Luke give you a call back at his earliest convenience," she said respectfully.

"When will that be?" she asked without hesitation.

"I don't know. Whenever is convenient, I suppose."

Sigh. "Look, just tell him—can you _please_ tell him," she retracted as she made sure to pat Lorelai's head thoroughly, "that I'll talk to him tonight? I'll just stop by on my way home," she added.

Again, Lorelai was speaking without intention. "I don't think that's a good idea. I told you he'd call you." She didn't know if or how Luke was going to break news of her affair, but one thing she did know was that he most certainly did not want to see her so soon. Especially not in his apartment.

Nicole seemed to ignore Lorelai's words like both they and she were insignificant to her. "I'll be a while, so just tell him I'll be there around seven or eig--"

"Nicole."

"Or eight," she finished determinately. "Thank you for passing along that message. I assume he _will_ get the message…" she ended, waiting for a response.

Lorelai heaved a deep sigh and tossed her hand up as if to say '_fuck it_'. "You can come by here, but he's not going to be here. He's spending the night with me, Nicole." She took the phone from her ear and pulled the mouthpiece closer to her lips. "Can you hear me now?!"

She slammed the phone down.

So much for rising above.

Immediately, her hand went to cover her eyes which were, now, squeezed shut. "Shit!" she exclaimed. She lowered her hand and looked back at the door. Luke was still downstairs, thank God. "I did not just do that. Please tell me I did not just do that," she muttered.

She hadn't lied. She and Luke were planning to spend the evening together. Watching movies. But when she'd said it, that's not how she wanted Nicole to take it. Nicole was out living like a free, single woman without a wedding ring, and with Lorelai's lasting words, she gave her the impression that Luke was doing the same.

She just wanted to cause a sting to Nicole's smug heart. She wanted to cause some pain. Mostly, she just wanted her to shut the hell up.

Her eyes went to the phone, and she stared at it, fully expecting it to ring again at any moment. The room remained silent. Lorelai's thoughts raced around in her head, and she continued to stare and think. Most of her life's decisions were spontaneous. She made spontaneous decisions, followed them with even more spontaneous actions, and then allowed the resulting chips to fall freely.

She couldn't take back what she had said. As she processed more and more, she realized she didn't want to. Thinking of Nicole's possible expression made her want to guard that lie with her life.

Lorelai chewed on her lip as the phone held her attention.

She didn't think of ways to carry out her deception. She, instead, found continuing reasons why it was an idea she wanted to adopt. She pictured Nicole sitting outside or _inside_ Luke's apartment late at night waiting for him to show. Waiting for Lorelai's words to be proven wrong. She wanted her to get a small taste of what it was like to have one's heart dragged through the mud. Her ignorance obviously had her believing she was still entitled to Luke.

Despite Lorelai telling Nicole that Luke would not be at his apartment that night, maybe she'd still show. Maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she'd sit in the Litchfield townhouse and drive herself crazy thinking about where Luke was and what he was doing every second of the night. Maybe she'd call up the sock man and ask him to come alleviate her stress. Lorelai wasn't sure. But one thing she did know was that Nicole would not be carrying around thoughts of Luke being damaged and broken, as she wanted him to be.

Knowing that she had brought another man to the house she shared with her husband led Lorelai to believe that's exactly what Nicole had wanted to happen. She'd intended for him to find out. Maybe not last night. But eventually.

Lorelai finally looked away from the phone and reached down to pick her jacket back up. She turned away and headed for the door.

Without doubt, she was not going back on what she had said to Nicole. The woman deserved every ounce of agony she got.

Luke stepped inside just before she reached the door. He shook his head. "Boy, do I feel my diner's in good hands," he stated drolly.

Lorelai smiled. "It happens," she appeased. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Caesar acted fast, so nothing's ruined. Other than a few hamburger patties. And no one got hurt, so that's good." He moved around her on his way to the phone. "Had to open the door and a few windows in the back to let out the smell though," he added. He got to the phone and noticed it was on the hook. He turned back and pointed. "Hung up?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

He nodded acquiescingly. "Was it about my shipment?"

"Um…not sure, actually. Guess they'll call back. Didn't want to leave a message."

He moved back to the door. "Okay. Lane will handle it when he calls back later."

Lorelai smiled and nodded again. She released a breath. "Ready for a fantastic movie watching experience?"

A corner of his mouth turned up. "Let's get this show on the road." He stepped over the threshold and held the doorknob, acting as a gentleman to Lorelai. She walked out past him, and he secured his apartment door.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai stopped the movie and hit rewind on the remote for the VCR. She tucked her leg under her thigh and turned toward Luke. She sat at the far end of her living room sofa, and he sat closer to the middle on his side.

Her eyebrows went high. "So, what's the verdict?"

His arms were folded over his chest. At her question, he turned his neck to face her. "Decent," he replied with an approving nod.

She gasped. "Decent?"

"Yeah. It was good," he said in nonchalance.

"Good?!" she followed even louder.

He frowned. "Why are you screaming at me?" he asked coolly.

She gestured at the screen. "Luke, you don't watch _His Girl Friday_ and use words like _good_ and _decent_! It's Cary Grant at his best. He's witty, he's gorgeous, the plot is hilarious! '_Decent'_? Are you kidding? The movie is genius!"

He watched her momentarily as she calmed herself down. "You know that this is just a movie, don't you?"

Her jaw dropped. "Just a movie?! Just a movie?!" she screeched.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Here we go again," he muttered. Lorelai laughed suddenly, causing his eyes to fly back to her. He realized that second outburst was purely for show and done only to get a reaction. "Very funny," he responded.

"_I_ thought so," she said proudly. She adjusted her body more in order to face him. "So, you liked the movie?" she asked with normalcy.

He nodded. "I told you it was good."

Lorelai nodded and smiled a little. "You laughed, you know."

"What?"

"During the movie, you laughed. Not sure if you knew that."

He rolled his eyes. "Thank you for that audience recap." He shook his head in amusement, thinking about how strange Lorelai could be when she wanted to. "You laughed too," he revealed in an almost accusatory tone of voice.

She smiled more. She'd seen the movie way too many times for it to invoke laughter. Smiles, of course. She appreciated the humor every single time, but it had long ago stopped causing her to laugh fitfully. But Luke was right. She _had_ laughed. She'd laughed because he had. It had been a while since she watched a favorite movie of hers with someone who had never before seen it. It was something she really enjoyed doing because, through them, her love of the film was renewed.

Each time Luke expressed enjoyment, though, it lighted her insides. She laughed at the movie, but her delight also stemmed from that. He was happy. His happiness made her happy.

"So, um, what do you want to watch next? I rented _Benny and Joon_. Figured I'd use Johnny Depp to keep tonight's hunky theme going strong. We can watch that if you like. Or something else. I have a bunch of movies from my own collection that I can suggest."

Luke looked ahead at the blue TV screen. "I thought we were just going to watch one movie," he mentioned.

She shook her head. "No, siree! That's an insult to the art. It's like Lay's, babe. Can't watch just one."

He smirked. "You watch your chips?" he teased.

"Same concept. You know what I mean." She pushed at his arm. "Tell me you can stay. Please. They've got the diner covered for tonight, right?" she asked, knowing they did.

He sighed. "How many movies do you have planned anyway?"

She smiled. "Well, Rory and I usually watch until we can barely keep our eyes open." She grabbed the half-full bowl of popcorn and held it up. "Or at least until the food runs out."

"Well, I have to get up in the morning to open, so I can't stay too late," he said, giving in.

She nodded, at the same time taking a thoughtful breath. "Okay."

He pointed at the TV. "You can put in anything you want. I'm open."

Slowly, she came to stand. "No preference?" He shook his head. "No specific genre?" He shook his head, no. "Year, director, actor—nothing?" Again, he shook his head, appearing lethargic. She folded her arms and smiled amusedly. "Do you want to watch another movie?"

He shrugged lightly. "Yeah, sure."

She sat down again. "Really?" she asked doubtfully. "Because we could do something else if you don't want to."

"Movie's fine. Besides, it's your movie night, so let's watch some movies," he said with summoned enthusiasm.

Lorelai picked up the remote and flipped back to regular TV. She could tell he wasn't excited about watching additional tapes/DVDs. "Don't worry about it. We can probably catch a show. What kinds of stuff do you watch?" She looked over at him. "How pathetic is it that I don't know that about you? We've known each other for _years_."

"Well, I see you in the diner, and that's about it, so it's not that pathetic."

She pouted and turned back to the screen. "Well, it is in my opinion." She flipped through channels. "You're my friend. I should know basic stuff about my friends."

A corner of his mouth lifted. "You know basic stuff about me. But if you want more, here it is. I don't watch a lot of TV, but when it's on, it's usually on ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports--"

"I'm sensing a pattern."

"—and the, uh, History channel."

"History Channel? Really?" she asked, intrigued.

He nodded pensively. "Yep. Sometimes."

Lorelai considered all that he had said. She frowned at the conclusion she reached. "No sitcoms?"

"Not usually."

"Late night talk shows, none of those either?"

"Never."

"You think you're too good for Conan, Luke?" she asked easily.

He chuckled. "No, I think I'm too _asleep_ for him," he corrected. "By the time all those shows come on, I'm usually in the bed. And even if I'm not, I don't have the TV on."

"Nights you're with Nicole?" she asked before thinking.

He turned to her at the question, and she turned fast realizing what she'd said. "I-I didn't mean _with her_ with her," she said stressfully. "I just meant spending time with her, in general." She almost relaxed, having gotten that clarification out. But something else occurred to her. "And…now that I think about it, forget I even brought her up. This night isn't about…her or…reminders—I mean, what she did--" She sighed in irritation. "Let's move on from Nicole…well, the _subject_ of Nicole…well, _Nicole_ too for that matter--" This time she growled out her frustration before taking a long, deep breath. "Did you know that a giraffe has a 21 inch tongue?"

Luke still looked at her. And with her calmer disposition, she now looked at him.

At first, he showed nothing but confusion. After several seconds, his lips began to spread. Lorelai laughed instantly at seeing that. His smile came to completion in no time, just giving him the appearance of someone who was unexpectedly amused.

He shook his head. "Nice recovery, Lorelai."

"What can I say, it's a party pleaser." Her laughter died down. "Luke, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."

"You're anything but an idiot. And don't be sorry. It's no big deal."

She nodded in gratitude at his apology and her eyes dropped to her lap. "Just wasn't thinking."

Luke quietly looked at her profile. He studied her. And his mind turned like a wheel. Long seconds passed before she lifted her eyes from her lap and back over to him. He still looked at her mindfully, and to keep from being questioned, he offered one of his own. "How long have we been friends?" he asked simply.

Her eyes went off. "Uh…like eight years, I think. Because I met you when--"

"No. Friends. How long have we been friends?" he asked again.

She widened her eyes in question. "Like close?"

Close. He smiled at the description. "Yeah…close," he repeated. "Me calling you to pick me up from jail close."

She smiled a smile of deliberation. "Hard to say," she stretched out. "Why?"

He clenched his jaw as he seemed to go into his own head. "Would you say that I'm hard to know?" He met her eyes. "Hard to…" Love? he wanted to say. But it didn't sound right in his head, so he knew it would sound even worse coming from his lips. "Hard to…care about, so to speak?"

Whatever smile rested on her lips slid away like it was never there. "Of course I wouldn't say that," she answered.

He shook his head. "You answered that way too fast."

"You want me to say it slower? Because I promise you the result will still be the same. I don't have to--"

"Listen to me for a second," he interrupted peaceably. Lorelai closed her open mouth and tuned in. She pointed the remote at the television and turned it off before tuning all the way in. Luke looked at the black screen. He felt slightly uncomfortable at being given the entire floor, but he'd made the decision to take conversation to this place, so he decided to commit to it.

He licked his lips and went on. "I'm not asking you this as eight-years-ago Luke. This isn't a stranger calling into a suicide hotline and being told any and everything that will keep him from making a stupid choice." He paused and looked at her, making sure she was with him. She appeared to be. Very much so. She waited for him to complete his thought.

"I'm asking you to tell me the truth. Be that person who tells me what I may not want to hear," he requested.

Quiet followed.

"Can I speak now?" Lorelai asked, her tone as serious as Luke had ever heard it. He nodded his answer. She leaned on the back of the sofa and gave him her full attention. She paused. "You have this shell that it's not easy to break through. You're not _hard_ to know or _hard_ to care about." She smiled. "You just require a little more effort. But it's my belief that once you've made it inside, you see how unbelievably worth it the whole thing was. It's worth it to know you, Luke. Take it from me."

He stared, saying nothing at first. She flashed him a look which told him to say something, to give her an idea of what was on his mind. He smiled at that. "Gettin' soft, are you?" he commented quietly.

"Hey, you asked for it."

He sobered. "Thanks."

She shrugged. "I just tell it like I see it."

"I'm not supposed to have a shell with my wife," he said.

"What?"

"With Nicole," he clarified. "I had a shell with Nicole." He met her eyes solemnly. "I'm definitely not blameless in this."

She stared back. Finally, she nodded warmly. "I believe that," she said in a quiet tone.

He smiled a bit. "Ouch."

She smiled back. "I still like you."

His smile widened at her words. "I know you do," he said, dropping his eyes once again in thought.

"And she's still a lowlife who hurt someone who never deserved to be hurt that way," she added seriously.

He nodded but held on to his silence.

For weeks—for months—every since he and Nicole had decided to give their relationship another try, Nicole had all but begged him to let her in. She told him how she felt she was in the relationship alone. He listened to her; he made an attempt to soothe her, but he changed nothing. He took her words at face value and kept on with his negligence—sleeping at his own apartment while offering her excuses that got lamer as time went on, rolling his eyes at her as she expressed emerging cracks and tears to her psyche, leaving in the middle of arguments just so he wouldn't have to deal with stress he felt just wasn't worth it. It was bad. And now she had cheated. Had brought another man into his bed.

For the first time, he was paying attention.

He took a heavy breath. "Never saw myself getting divorced." He chuckled. "Never saw myself getting married either," he muttered comically.

Lorelai shrugged and laid her head on the back of the sofa. Her eyes went to the ceiling. "You live, you make mistakes, you learn from them…hopefully, do a lot of shopping in between all of that, then you die."

"Suppose you're right. Life is all about…good sales," he ended blandly.

She smiled. "See, you're catching on."

He nodded listlessly. "Slowly but surely."

Lorelai turned her attention from the ceiling and over to him without lifting her head from the back of the sofa. He was looking ahead toward the TV, staring. Head full of thoughts. She touched a hand to his wrist with a softly uttered, "hey", causing him to look at her.

Her eyes moved between both of his. "I can see you married," she revealed in a quiet voice.

He returned her stare. There was a moment shared between them before he asked, "Really?"

She took her hand away and lifted her head. She turned to him more and lowered her eyes to her fingers. "Yeah. I mean, you just have to find someone who you mesh with." She met his eyes again and shrugged. "Just takes the right person." He nodded considerately. Lorelai's eyes dropped to his stomach before she playfully pinched his side. "Someone who you'll let penetrate that stubborn shell of yours."

He smiled.

She did too.

"Guess my luck will hold out, and I'll find someone up for the challenge eventually, huh?"

She nodded with certainty. "It'll happen."

Luke's eyes dropped, and then he was looking at his wristwatch. "Listen, I better get going. It's getting late and--"

"It's only eight o'clock," she pointed out.

He stood up. "Yeah, well, I have to make sure my diner's still standing anyway."

Lorelai continued to look up at him with disappointment. Words spoken to Nicole zoomed to the front of her mind, and she grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him back down. His perplexed look had her scrambling for words. "What about the, uh, t-t-the um…curfew?" she finally spit out.

He pulled his arm free and straightened the sleeve of his flannel. "What are you _talking_ about?" he asked with frown.

"The curfew!" she said louder like that'd make it more obvious.

"Did you get hit with some kind of crazy stick today? Stars Hollow doesn't have a _curfew_! And even if they did, I don't think me and my thirty-seven years fall under it."

He tried to rise again, and she pulled him back down by his shirt tail. "But you do," she disputed. "Everybody does. It's for your own good, Luke." She pointed to the window, trying to make his wide, irritated eyes follow her direction, but it didn't work. "If you go out there, you're going to regret it!" she warned. "There are, um, mantises coming in from the Atlantic. And they're big and mean and green and…um…big. Not to mention mean and gr--"

"Lorelai!" She'd grabbed a hold of his sleeve once again, and one by one, he peeled her fingers from his clothes. "What's going on with you?" Finally, with her hands off of him, he moved away and regarded her from a safer distance. "I feel like I need to go find something to use as a tongue suppressor."

She sighed and lowered her eyes.

Luke looked relieved that she finally seemed calm. "Now, what's this about? Why do you not want me to leave?" he asked.

"I told you. Because of the huge mantises," she pouted, her gaze still low.

"Lorelai," Luke admonished.

She looked at him and smiled a little before her expression showed defeat. "I have something to tell you."

He spread his knees comfortably and leaned on them. "Okay."

Her eyes were locked on his as she went over her conversation with Nicole in her head. She needed for Luke to stay. She needed for Nicole to think that he was out having and enjoying a life as she had already begun to do. She needed all of that, not just for her own satisfaction and the destruction of Nicole, but she needed it also for Luke. No matter how far past it he claimed he was, after such an appalling discovery, Lorelai figured it could only help him to get out and away from his normal routine for a while.

Keeping him away from the tiny apartment where he'd entertained nights with his whorish wife was a good thing, she concluded.

She came to realize that the only way to get him to stay would be by outright lying…or by telling him the truth.

"Promise me you won't get mad," she said timidly.

"Mad about what?" His voice raised a few notches as if he expected the worse.

"See, you're already breaking your promise!"

"I didn't promise anything!"

Lorelai sighed. "I need you to stay." She paused.

"_Why_ do--" Luke started to ask.

She cut him off and went on. "I need you to stay because of Nicole." She looked down at her hands so she wouldn't have to look at him. "I spoke to her in your apartment. She was the one who called, not your bread guy."

"What?"

She still didn't look at him. "She called and asked for you. At first you were in the bathroom. Then, you were in the diner taking care of the fire, so I talked to her, only to tell her that you'd call her back," she added in her defense. "But she was speaking to me like I was an idiot and asking questions that she had no right to know given the circumstances, and long story short…" She breathed deep and finally looked up at him. "I told her you and I were sleeping together."

Luke stood up instantly and looked down at her with bugged out eyes and crimson-colored cheeks. "You told her _what_?!"

Lorelai got to her feet too. She held her hands out, palms facing him in a _calm-down_ gesture as she told him, "I didn't exactly tell her that. But it was…kind of…sort of implied." Her fingernail went between her teeth as she awaited his response.

He looked at her with his mouth open. He appeared to be searching for words, but he found none. He turned and walked toward the kitchen. Lorelai took about two steps to follow him but stopped when he turned abruptly and came back toward her with his eyes on the floor. He made it just short of where he'd been standing before he turned again.

She realized it was just a pace. She could allow him a pace.

After only three or four more rotations, Lorelai broke the quiet. "Luke, what are you thinking?"

He was on his way toward her again when she asked the question, and he stopped in his previous spot and gestured at her. "What were _you_ thinking?!" he followed.

She got that he was upset. She knew that he would be, but suddenly she had a hard time seeing why he was _so_ upset. So what if his adulterous wife thought he was sleeping around?

"So…I did something…bad?" she asked hesitantly.

He folded his arms. "Did you seriously just ask me that?" The question came through clenched teeth.

She found herself getting agitated. She quickly put her hair behind her ears and placed both hands on her hips. "Look, I know that I messed up. And I could understand why the news would shock you or whatever, but where is all the anger coming from? She did it first! She cheated on _you_ with no regard to your feelings. Why are trying to protect _her_? Who gives a crap if she's hurt by this?"

"That's not the point, Lorelai," he bellowed. "Do you not see the problem in this?"

"Obviously I don't!"

"She doesn't even know we're broken up yet!" he revealed. "Not officially! And now she thinks you and I are a _couple_?" he asked, saying the word more harshly than Lorelai would have preferred. She rolled her eyes at that. It wasn't that she was jumping to be part of a 'couple' with him or anyone else, but principle could always stand alone. She focused on his initial statement.

"You haven't talked to her at all since yesterday?"

"Well, I haven't exactly been feeling chatty over the past 24 hours," he answered, giving them a second of calmer conversation. It didn't last long. "I-I just can't believe you did that!"

Lorelai appeared contemplative. Suddenly regretful. Her voice quieted. "Is this going to affect things? Legally, I mean…"

That thought hadn't crossed his mind—that Nicole would try to hit him with adultery while she sat back pretending to have been the perfect wife. He hoped she wouldn't stoop to that kind of unthinkable level. With her affair, he realized he didn't know her as well as he thought, but he was still comforted by certain things he knew for a fact. She had a conscience and a heart. And so did he. Which is why, after a whole day of thinking, he came to a decision that he had yet to feel good about. Despite what she'd put him through, he couldn't find it in himself to ruin her precious reputation and possibly her career by laying down all of her private matters in a courtroom. He planned to look into the "I didn't do anything wrong; she didn't do anything wrong; I just want her out of my life" divorce option. Also known as _irreconcilable differences_, the most evasive and the one that looked best on paper. Whatever would get him out the fastest.

Lorelai's question was only considered for a moment. He wasn't worried about the legal side of anything. He answered her by shaking his head, no.

"Then, what is it?" she asked.

"It's just a thing between Nicole and me. An issue that—because of your _lie_—makes me look guilty! And I'm not guilty!" he spit out with certainty as he pointed at the floor where he was _apparently_ standing some kind of ground.

Lorelai's face told of her confusion. "Not guilty of what?" she asked. "What'd she accuse you of?"

He rolled his eyes. He did that as if he was being asked to repeat something that he'd spoken of hundreds of times. In reality, he had never said it out loud. He had never repeated Nicole's accusations back to her or to anyone else, for that matter. He simply dismissed them with words that always fell on deaf ears.

Lorelai didn't have to coerce. With no grumbling and very little contemplation, the answer came from Luke's lips. And unbeknownst to Lorelai, she suddenly had an insider's view to over fifty percent of the couple's arguments.

"_Being_ with you," he revealed without consideration for how she'd take the information. "_Having_ been with you, _wanting_ to be with you, _thinking_ about being with you, _planning_ to be with you, you name it. I've had to deal with it all," he said all at once, his words running into each other.

Her mouth hung open as she looked at him. Luke calmed down and took in her expression. He played with his hat uncomfortably. "Look, it's not a big deal," he continued quietly. "This just…it doesn't help, okay? I know we're done, but I don't want her thinking she was right about this whole thing."

A few seconds of silence passed before Lorelai finally replied with, "Well, that's crazy. Why in the world would she think all of that?"

"Beats me," he responded while looking elsewhere.

"Did you tell her it wasn't true?"

He looked at her then. With annoyance. "Of course I told her it wasn't true, Lorelai. She never believed me."

She scrambled for reason. "I just don't understand what would make her—I mean, was it because of interaction…or looks that you would give me or--"

"Wait, what?" he asked with a frown.

Her wide eyes went to him. "What?" she followed.

"What _looks_? I never gave you any _looks_," he spewed.

"I never said you did!" she yelled defensively.

"You just said it!"

"Well, I didn't mean—I was just trying--" She stomped her foot. "Luke, damn, I'm trying to process here!" He rolled his eyes away. "You just gave me this huge piece of news. Give me a minute to make some sense out of it!"

He mumbled petulantly and kept his eyes low. Hers went off in another direction.

Luke found himself growing uneasy with her extended processing, and after many seconds, he sighed tiredly and looked at his watch again. "I'm gonna go. I didn't plan on staying here but a couple of hours anyway." He turned toward the door with a muttered, "See ya."

Lorelai didn't allow him any steps in that direction, though. She grabbed his arm with a gentle grip, and he faced her. "You're still going to go?" she asked.

He arched his brow. "Planned on it."

She let him go and looked at him with excitement in her eyes. "Maybe you should stay." She went on before he could say something to discourage her intention. "What I did was thoughtless. And had I known that I was fanning this gigantic flame, I may not have done it. But I did, and I'm so sorry for making you look guilty in her eyes. But hear me out, Luke." She paused and got her thoughts together. "She already knows you're over here," she continued. "And she already thinks…you know, the worst. You can leave right now and go find her and tell her the truth, but she's still going to be suspicious because…" She shrugged. "She heard it straight from my mouth."

"Well, maybe I should drag you along with me, so she can hear _straight from your mouth_ again how you were lying and trying to help me when I didn't ask you for your help!" he countered irritably. He was all about the argument at that point. He would never give Nicole that much satisfaction. He'd tell her it wasn't true, and if she didn't believe him, he wouldn't spend any additional energy trying to convince her. Hell, the marriage was already over.

Lorelai acknowledged his option. "Okay, you could!" she said peaceably. "You could do that. And I would come and do as asked because this is kind of my doing."

"Kind of?"

"_But_," she went on, "Here's the alternative." She pointed to the expanse of the room. "You stay here a while longer." She added the next part tentatively with a tilt of her head because she knew that he was going to explode. "_Possibly_…overnight…"

"What?!"

She moved in and placed her hands below his shoulders like she was holding him off from charging. He just stood there, though, looking like he couldn't believe the words she continued to speak.

"She's probably going crazy right now, Luke." She pointed at herself. "I know I would be. No matter what dirt she's out there doing with Fruit of the Loom men all over the state, she's going to care that you're here." She backed away when she saw his features relaxing some. "Let her care. Let her feel whatever she's feeling because to be frank, she deserves it!"

They stared at one another momentarily. Lorelai waited for him to respond, and Luke allowed all that she'd said to sink in.

"You know what," he began, his jaw tightening, "instead of commenting on how absolutely _childish_ that is, I'm just going to leave." He turned to leave but then turned back to get something else off his chest. "I am a grown man, Lorelai. Not an eight year old who plays games. What Nicole did was wrong. But she's the one who has to live with that. I'm officially out of her life, so I don't care anymore. I'm not looking to get revenge by playing stupid tricks and pranks."

Lorelai was quiet. She had plenty of points against his stance, but she decided that she'd respect where he was coming from. "Okay," she uttered quietly. "Sorry for prying."

He rolled his eyes back in his head dramatically, showing his regret about his entire reaction. "Look, I know you were trying to help, and I thank you. Really. The fact that you would be willing to put yourself in this position lets me know even more how great a friend you are." She smiled a kind smile. One that said her real test at friendship had been thwarted. She was happy that he appreciated what she was trying to do, though.

"But let me handle this my way," he went on to say.

Lorelai nodded. "If you say so."

He met her eyes and they held a stare that let them both know they were still okay with each other.

"Thanks for the movie," he said sincerely.

Her polite smile grew to a real one. "Anytime."

He smiled then backed away. "I'll see you tomorrow in the diner, right?"

"I go where the coffee is."

He tossed his head up in acknowledgement and turned toward the foyer.

Lorelai watched him exit. She stood there with her fingers linked in front of her as she continued to look at the door. She hated to see him go. _Truly_ hated it. Nicole was going to win. In no time at all, she would think she'd gotten the best of Luke. She had intended to teach him some sort of perverse lesson using the sock man. And Luke, unfortunately had too big a heart and too much maturity to make sure she paid for her sins. He was just going to bow out and let her think she had come out on top. Lorelai hated that. She also hated feeling like a fool. She'd made a promise to Nicole. Her words were certain and definite and cut-throat. She had told her where her husband was sure to be that night. Now, those words meant nothing.

Her mouth had written a check that she had no way to cash. And soon, Nicole would know that and possibly do one of those menacing, head-tossed-back laughs that would add plenty of insult to injury.

Lorelai _really, really_ hated to see Luke go.

---

She moved around her living room. She straightened things. Actually cleaned and cleared—something that hadn't been done in forever.

She'd been at it for fifteen minutes. Every since Luke had left her house and headed back to the diner, she'd been cleaning like her life depended on it. She couldn't stop the echoes of satanic laughter that rang through her head. There was a chance that after all was said and done, she'd never again see Nicole. That chance was so great that it almost became an actuality. Still, she was haunted by how petty and ridiculous she'd appear to her once she learned what Luke was probably telling her at that very moment.

There was no one in the crap shack but Lorelai, and she spoke out loud as if there was company present. One person, in particular.

"I don't care. Laugh. Go ahead and laugh. It's fine with me. You know why? Because your laugh makes me laugh. It sounds stupid. And you know what? Your shoes are ugly. Having money certainly doesn't lead to good taste, does it? And you know what else? Your laughing doesn't bother me because I still won. Ha! How you like those apples, Ms. Lying-for-a-living-upscale-attorney woman? You know how I still won? Huh? Dying to know, aren't you? You sure are, so I'll answer it for you. I'll do you a favor. You're welcome, by the way, you manner-less wench. I still won because regardless if I was lying or not, I still managed to have you biting those pretty little nails of yours for a few hours, didn't I? Laugh at that. You and your stupid sock man can laugh it right on down to hell."

She finished dusting the coffee table and plopped the magazines back onto it without worrying about placement. She picked up the dust rag. "I knew this old Color Me Badd t-shirt would get some shine time eventually," she said. With her face turned away, she proceeded to shake the dust out of the cloth, unknowingly sprinkling it right back onto the table.

The doorbell rang.

Lorelai tossed the rag on the sofa and hurried to answer.

When she opened the door, Luke was standing there. Her eyebrows went high in surprise. "Hey!" she greeted. "What are you--"

He moved inside, toward Lorelai. She backed up and allowed him to close the door behind himself. He spoke simultaneously. "Are you mad at me?" he asked fast.

She smiled a little at his weird behavior. "No," she answered slowly. "Should I be?"

"Good," he said, ignoring her question. He took her by her wrist and pulled her along behind him as he entered the living room where there was more light. He let her go once there. "Because I want to take you up on your offer," he revealed. Lorelai's eyes lit up and she tried to fight back a smile. Luke saw all of that but still asked, "Is that okay with you? Are you still willing?"

"Uh, yeah. Of course I am," she said. She folded her arms. "What changed your mind?"

His eyes began darting around as he thought. A smile appeared then went away as he started talking. "I saw Nicole." He started moving, pacing with anxious energy. "She was sitting in a car in front of the diner. Well…off to the side of the diner anyway," he corrected. He stopped and focused on her, his eyes wide. "Like she was _hiding_," he added. Bits of the smile appeared again. It disappeared, and he started pacing more. "I don't know whose car she was sitting in, but it definitely wasn't hers. It looked like she was on a damn stakeout."

Lorelai smiled widely at how happy that seemed to make him. "A stakeout? You mean she was scoping out the diner?"

He stopped again. "Exactly." He held up a finger as he dug in his back pocket with the other hand. Out came his cell phone. "But I wasn't sure. I mean, it's not exactly something you see every day, you know?" Lorelai nodded. "So, I pulled out this thing," he said referring to his phone, "and I dialed the diner. Spoke with Caesar." He appeared proud. His pause lasted forever like he was trying to build up suspense in the plot.

"And?!" Lorelai asked finally.

He smiled. "Caesar told me that she came in over an hour ago asking for me. He told her I wasn't there, and she left in a huff."

"In a huff? Really?"

"That's what he said," he confirmed. "Shocked me too. Still can't imagine what that looked like," he commented. Lorelai chuckled. He started pacing again. "It's just so weird. She's mad--"

"Jealous," Lorelai corrected.

"—or jealous, whatever," he said with a wave of his hand. "But she's out…doing what she's doing. I don't get it. How can she be so concerned with what I'm doing when she's already given up on me?" he asked aloud.

Lorelai shrugged. Part of her thought that maybe Luke was hoping she wanted to give their relationship another try and was willing to do that if Nicole was. That unsettled her and broke down the excitement that she'd displayed just moments ago. She still expressed her real thoughts on the situation.

"It's like I told you before. No matter what she's doing with Tom, Dick, and Larry, she's still going to be affected by what you do." Her eyes went off. "She cares about you, I guess."

He scoffed. "She sure has a funny way of showing it."

Lorelai watched him move back and forth. "So…you want to spend the night here?" she asked, getting him to the reason for his return visit.

He glanced at her. "Yeah. And I don't even know why. It's stupid. It's so stupid."

"What is?"

"This whole thing. This plan, her reaction, the fact that I'm here," he rattled off. He came to stand in front of her. "It's just that I saw her sitting in that car, and I couldn't move. I couldn't go in the diner. She didn't see me, so I just…turned back. I don't know why."

Lorelai laughed quietly, and then pointed a finger at him. "That eight year old suddenly wants to come out and play, that's why."

"What?"

"You saw her sitting there with binoculars on standby waiting for you to come home, and you wanted to drive that knife deeper. Make her suffer."

He rolled his eyes and seemed annoyed at the cruel breakdown. "I don't think that's--"

"I don't blame you, Luke," Lorelai said, cutting him off. "Like I said, she deserves this and more. What she did is unforgivable. Why not have a little fun at her expense?"

He held up a hand. "Actually, that's not what this is abo--"

Lorelai shook her head, letting him know he could stop talking. "Do you want one pillow or two?" He just looked at her. "For the couch," she added while looking right back at him.

Finally, Luke came back with, "Just so you know, I'm here because she's sitting outside of my apartment, and I don't want to stay there knowing she's out there and could come in at any moment using her key."

A slow smile came to rest on Lorelai's lips. "One pillow or two?"

He rolled his eyes at her and went to sit on the couch. "One is fine, thanks."

She went to the hall closet and brought back a blanket and two pillows. She smiled as she handed it to him. "Just in case your quest for the cool side doesn't turn out as well as you planned and you have to switch out in the middle of the night," she explained.

He shook his head and took the items from her.

"Hey, you know you can sleep in Rory's bed if you like," she said remembering that much more comfortable option.

Luke wasted no time answering. "The couch is fine. Thanks."

She sat down next to him. "Weird?"

"Very."

Lorelai chuckled and looked around them. Her attention went back to Luke. "So, what do you want to do?"

He looked over at her. "What do you usually do around this time?"

She pointed. "Watch TV, I suppose."

He nodded. "Okay. Let's do that."

"Or movies. We can finish with the movie night theme. I can slip in something that'll kill some brain cells."

He smiled coolly and responded with, "Sounds good."

"You say that now. Wait 'til I put in _Jabberwocky_ and your motor skills go. You'll be singing a different tune, then."

"Something to look forward to," he deadpanned. She smiled. "Hey, mind if I get comfortable—just ready to crash for the night?"

She shook her head. "Not at all." She got up and headed for the stairs. "Let me run up and see if I can find something you can put on."

"Okay. Thanks." She'd already started up the stairs so he yelled the next part. "I'm going to go in the kitchen and grab a glass of water, if you don't mind."

"Got plenty of it, so help yourself." She disappeared into her bedroom. A minute later, she returned downstairs and made herself comfortable on the couch once again. Luke emerged from the kitchen. "Hydrated?" she asked him as she fingered her hair idly.

He nodded. "Why didn't you tell me your water pressure was so low?"

She shrugged. "I bug you enough. I figured it'd fix itself," she continued densely. "Has it not done that yet?"

Luke rolled his eyes at her act. "I'll look at it later." He pointed upstairs. "Mind if I go up and take a shower?"

She shook her head. "You know where the bathroom is and how the shower works…since you fixed it numerous times. You'll find an extra toothbrush, something to change into, and uh…oh yeah, I put some Dove body wash in there just for you so you can maintain that baby soft skin of yours. I didn't bother with the razor 'cause…" She gestured at his face, "…well, you know. But if you need one I have some pretty pink ones under the cabinet. Go nuts."

He gave her a quizzical look. "The clothes you picked out aren't…lacy are they?"

She put her hand over her mouth. "Oh, sorry, you didn't say you had preferences."

"Or they aren't another man's leftovers, I hope."

"Man, you sure are picky for someone who's on the run." He gave her a humorless look. She relented. "No, they aren't another man's clothes. They're mine. I do have gender neutral clothes that are way too big. Blah clothes for my blah days. Happy?"

"For the blah clothes?"

"Yes."

He rolled his eyes and started up the stairs. "Delighted." He made it up a few stairs before he slowed and looked back at her. "Thank you, Lorelai."

She smiled. "You're quite welcome, Luke." She watched him walk up the stairs. Thoughts rushed around her head of how comfortable a scene it appeared to be. The only other time a man had been in her home in such a way was when Max was still around. Watching him move around freely made her nervous. She trusted him, but it was something about the mere sight of it that put her on the edge of her seat.

"I won't be long," Luke added.

She smiled. "Take your time."

She stretched her feet out on the coffee table and flipped on the television.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Having him here was nice. That's all."

Rory gathered her mail from the kitchen table and took her keys from her purse. She smiled at her mother's comment as she headed for the front door. Lorelai followed behind her. "Me…off at college. You…all alone in this huge house. I knew it was only a matter of time before you got Luke over here to take away those lonely nights," she teased.

"Well, isn't that a cute little perspective. Hey, remind me to disown you later, okay?"

She chuckled. "You seem smitten," she commented.

"What?" Lorelai asked, highly amused.

"Your tone. It's smitten."

"My tone is fine. It's normal. All the other tones look up to my tone."

Rory nodded. She was in a rush. As she always seemed to be in her grown-up days. She opened the door and leaned on it. She sought to squeeze in as much conversation with her mom as she could in the few minutes she had left. She was to be in class in exactly forty minutes. The thirty minute drive back to school would bring it down to ten.

"So, it was only last night, then?" she asked.

"What, Luke staying here?" Rory nodded her answer. "Yeah. Just last night. He broke down and hired an attorney today--"

"Which he hated, right?"

"Oh, you have no idea." They both smiled. "Anyway, he's moving forward with the divorce, so I guess the mind games can come to an end."

"Sadly."

Lorelai pouted playfully. "It was fun while it lasted."

"I'm sure Nicole will be forever indebted to you for all you've done. So will her therapist." Lorelai raised her eyebrows pleasingly. "And Luke's okay?"

She smiled. "Luke's great, hon."

Rory gave her a doubtful look. "I wouldn't say great. Considering everything, great's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"He's coping well. Better?"

"Better," she said with approval. "This is still new for him. It'll be nice if _weeee_ remember that before _weeee_ make any rash decisions that involve any more sleepovers."

That time Lorelai got defensive. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Rory realized the time. "It means I love you, take care, tread lightly, and I'll see you tomorrow night at dinner."

"Wait, what was that third thing?"

"I love you."

"No, after that."

Rory smiled. "I love you, Mom. I've gotta go. I'll call you later." She tried to turn and leave, but Lorelai stopped her.

"Hold on, Love. We ran through my goings-on. What about you?"

She thought quickly, her eyes scanning the foyer. "Uh…nothing," she said coming up empty. She snapped her fingers. "Oh, except Professor Wilkes—the professor of the class I'm headed to now, announced last week that she was going to start locking out all late students. It's closing in on exam time, and she's showing no mercy. 4:01, you're either in or you're out until next class."

"And that's considered punishment?" Lorelai asked laughingly.

Rory regarded her. "Mom!"

She chuckled, placed both her hands on her shoulders, and brought her in for a kiss. "Go, go. Avoid the exile." Rory turned and hurried down the steps. "Drive safe, sweets!"

"I will!"

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai ate dinner at Luke's then went home for the evening. She was in her house by seven-thirty.

By nine, she was sitting Indian style in front of the coffee table with her back against the couch. On the television was an old _I Dream of Jeannie_ episode. She alternated focus between the TV and the scarf she was knitting. It'd been a while since she'd sewn leisurely. With work and Rory and trying to maintain some form of a social life, the only time she used to sew anything was when it was necessary. Loose buttons, torn stitches, hem adjustments—things like that.

But that was then.

Now, outside of getting the inn up and running, this was her life. Laying around. Watching TV. And just recently….knitting a scarf in the middle of springtime.

With no suitors and no Rory, her nights were proving to be pretty bland.

Luke's stay had knocked her out of monotony that she hadn't even known was taking over her world.

They had fun the previous evening. Like she'd told Rory, it was nice having him around. His company made her realize how much she missed having company. They talked about nothing. Laughed about everything stupid. She sat in the exact position she sat in on this night, and Luke was stretched out on what was to be his bed.

During all quiet moments, Lorelai assumed he was watching the movie that played. That was until he came out of left field by telling her he didn't realize how thick her hair was. She turned around and found him with his head tilted toward her. Like he'd been looking at her for longer than she realized. She smiled. He still looked at her, making her uneasy. That's when her cheeks got heated and she faced the TV again.

She picked up a bowl of popcorn and shoved it in his face with a playful, "want some?". He pushed it away and proceeded to complain of all the butter, salt, and cheese that would one day clog an artery. And just like that, they were back to normal. Or she was. She wasn't sure if he'd ever left it.

Either way, the evening was really nice.

It reminded Lorelai of how much she missed having a guy in her life. Jason Stiles had pursued her for a while, but she had no interest in him, and he finally accepted that and left her alone. She was now living a celibate lifestyle, not completely by choice. Her last love interest had been Max…or Alex—like the chicken and the egg, she never knew which of them were _officially_ considered last.

Time spent with Luke made her think about companionship. She didn't bother thinking of why that was.

For now, she was content with creating a wool garment on a warm, April night.

At a quarter past ten, Lorelai rose to her feet at the sound of tapping at the front door. She wasn't expecting anyone, and curiosity had her changing direction while walking over. She moved over to the window and peeked out.

She saw her jeep. And then Luke's old green pick-up parked behind it.

Seconds later, she had the door open.

Immediately she grew concerned. Luke stood on the porch, his head bowed. His fingers fidgeted in and around his pockets. A bag hung from his right shoulder. He looked up slowly to meet her eyes. His expression was fixed in a way that said he was about to give her the worst news imaginable.

Before Lorelai could get a word out, she saw his air change. It slid over into a sort of youthful shame.

"Nicole called me."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay…"

"She called me and was um…" He rubbed his neck, making his discomfort clear. "…uh upset because my lawyer contacted her firm." He paused. "She was asking questions about…" He gestured between himself and Lorelai. She nodded her understanding. He went on. "…so I told her what I knew about her and that guy. And then I said how this was none of her business." He took a breath. "And uh…she got even more upset. Or emotional, I should say. Then, she asked if we could have a 'do over'. She called it a _do over_, me and her."

Lorelai took in all he'd said. "And what'd you say?"

"I told her my lawyer would be in touch."

Lorelai appeared both amused and taken aback. "Wow. Bet she loved that," she said, trying hard to picture Nicole's face as she heard the words.

He shook his head. "That's not the worst part."

She took in his overnight bag again before regarding him. "What is the worst part?"

There was hesitation in his words. "She was trying to explain herself…and I kinda told her that I had somewhere to be." He looked down at his bag. "I figured she'd get what I meant."

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Yeah, um, I'm willing to bet she picked up on that pretty well."

"She still kept talking," he continued after a moment. "A mile a minute. Apologizing…and trying to rationalize…you name it. And her words all fell flat." Lorelai smiled a little. Luke shrugged. "So I, um…laid the phone down and got my stuff together."

"While she was still talking?" she asked.

He nodded, causing her to chuckle. "For all I know she's still on the phone," he finished.

"Doesn't give up easy, does she?" Lorelai commented.

He held his arms out to his sides flourishingly. "So, to sum up, here I am," he concluded. His tone was quiet, not near as confident as someone who was fully proud of himself for the emotional wreck sitting in Litchfield.

She nodded slowly in agreement. "Here you are…."

"She wasn't crying but she was close to it. Just sounded betrayed or something. And uh…" His voice got quiet. "…that didn't suck," he finally revealed as he lowered his head.

Lorelai smiled widely. She finally understood. By instinct, she wanted to tease him, make fun of him for joining her over on the dark side. But he wasn't entirely comfortable being there on that side. He was just a guy who'd found his wife having an ongoing affair in _his_ house, probably in _his_ bed and now had the rare chance to hear her ask for forgiveness like what she did wasn't the cruelest, most disturbing thing ever.

Without another word, Lorelai stepped to the side and gave room for Luke to enter.

He took a breath, as if to brace himself, and then he crossed the doorsill. "I know I'm going to hell," he muttered just as he passed her.

She laughed and rubbed his back. "Maybe so. But for now you can enjoy your time in heaven."

She closed the door behind him.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Think you'll ever date again?"

Luke shook his head in response to Lorelai's question. "Nope. I'm scarred," he declared evenly.

She chuckled at his sarcasm. "Well, you have reason to be."

He rolled his eyes. "Let me get the shattered pieces of this relationship cleaned up before you start me on another one, okay?"

She pushed her foot into his thigh. She sat with her back against the sofa arm. She had one foot folded beneath her and the other one now against Luke's thigh as he sat farther down with both feet on the floor.

"Just don't go five years this time, okay? You deserve to be happy too, ya know." Her words were genuine, and she worked to conceal that with annoying kicks to his leg. They lasted only as long as her words of advice did.

He looked over at her. "I don't see you with anyone right now," he commented.

She frowned, taking it to heart. "So?"

"You said '_too'_. You want me to be happy _too_. Who's the _too_?" he asked, not recanting.

She held onto her frown. After several moments, her eyes turned pouty, followed closely by her lips. "Why are you being mean? I said something really nice to you, and you're making me feel all undesirable."

He smiled and faced the television that set muted. "Sorry. Didn't mean to make you feel ugly."

She gasped. "Oh my god, now I'm ugly?!"

"What?"

Her hand went to her chest. "I said undesirable! How the hell did you get ugly out of that?"

He appeared unaffected. Bored even. "This is getting stupid."

Lorelai folded her arms. "You're the one who called me ugly," she said crossly.

"I didn't call you ugly."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I did not."

"_Yes_! You did too!"

"I'm not getting sucked into this with you," he replied calmly while circling his finger like a tornado.

"Can't believe you called me that," she muttered.

Luke looked over and stared at her long enough to see a smile nearly break out across her face. Her eyes stayed down. He shook his head away at seeing that. He was tired and annoyed. Always so very tired and annoyed. But it never mattered to him. With her, he could do it all day. He never thought he'd grow up as much as he had and still be able to appreciate a person's playful side as much as he did with Lorelai.

"If you're ugly, then Kirk is the uh…" He snapped his fingers toward the TV, trying to drum up memory, "…uh…Gary Grant," he said finally, "Of Stars Hollow."

She looked up at him and smiled instantly before there was laughter. "_Cary_ Grant, Luke. Cary Grant," she corrected once she'd calmed down.

He shrugged without care and stayed facing forward. "Same thing."

She wiggled her toes on him while staring at the side of his face. She wanted a reaction but got nothing. "It is not the same thing," she said.

He sighed. "Are we going to do this all night?" She smiled. "I say one thing and you immediately say the next just to get a rise from me?"

She held in a _dirty_. Her smile only widened as it rang through her head. "Well, that was the plan," she answered. "But since you've come upon my evil scheme, I'll have to abort."

"I'm glad."

Lorelai tapped her toes against him a few more times before she slid up and sat with one leg folded and one on the floor, still facing him. At her movement, he gave her his attention. She smiled and toyed with the bottom of her pant leg. "Luke, when I said that you deserve to be happy, I really meant that."

They held eye contact for seconds. Finally, Luke nodded and diverted his eyes momentarily. "I know you did."

Her sparkling blue eyes turned even bluer, and Luke smiled. She didn't know the reason for it, but it relaxed her and made her more comfortable with what she'd said. She gestured at herself theatrically. "And you want the same for me, right?"

He nodded, becoming more amused.

"See!" She moved over and got beside him. Her feet went to the floor and she crossed her legs and put a hand on his thigh. "Look at us. Supporting one another. Being here for one another. It's nice."

Luke glanced down at her hand which had begun to smooth across his thigh. "It is nice."

"And nice is good."

He nodded with a swallow. "Very good."

She slid her hand up his thigh very subtly. Very effectively. "You know the best part about being here for one another, Luke?" He shook his head distractedly. Her hand was on the inside of his thigh now. "We're here to share advice," she divulged.

"Mmhm." His legs spread more.

"But not just any advice," she added.

"Oh no," he mumbled agreeably. "Not just any advice."

"Sage advice."

"Okay."

She wiggled closer to his body and let her hand continue its travel. One moment she was rubbing his thigh, and then the feel changed. The shape changed. Luke moaned. She turned her head more and met his eyes. "All kinds of advice," she continued. She licked her lips and let her eyes fall to his lips. "Like um…your wife is a dud. Leave her." He nodded and she leaned in a little while keeping his soft, pink lips locked in her gaze. "Or…advice like--"

"You're on fire."

She chuckled and met his eyes. "Well, yeah, I guess that's pretty good advice, but--"

Luke backed away and his eyes widened. "No, you're on fire!"

Her smile faded. She didn't get the joke. "What?"

He scrambled to rise. "Fire! You're on fire!" he yelled.

Lorelai looked down at where he pointed and saw flames spreading across her torso. She shrieked and started flailing her limbs. Luke grabbed a pillow and tried to smother the flames, but they only grew.

"Put it out! Put it out!"

"I'm trying!"

She moved and flapped around as Luke tried his best to contain the blaze. She got to the edge of the couch without realizing it, and her next thrash sent her hurling to the floor with a loud boom.

Lorelai's entire body jerked.

She sucked in a mouthful of air and her eyes flew open.

It took her a moment to realize where she was.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she heard Luke's sleepy voice ask.

She had a grip on the back of the couch. She looked around, then down toward the other end at Luke, and finally her grip loosened. She was laying her head on one arm of the sofa with her bent knees leaning toward the back part. Luke was at the other end, and until Lorelai startled him, he was asleep with his head tossed back. Lorelai had the majority of the space, so he was in a sitting position, his feet set apart. It was the same position he'd held while watching the movie they both had fallen asleep to.

He sat up more. "Bad dream?" he asked.

She squinted to shield her still sensitive, dreary eyes. For a moment, she stared at him as pieces of the dream came soaring into her conscious mind. "Um, weird," she finally answered. "I was…" She cleared her throat and slid to a better sitting position too but kept her legs pulled up, her knees facing the sofa's back. "I was on fire."

"On fire?"

"Yeah."

He rubbed his eyes. "How'd that happen? Do you remember what you were doing?"

Flashes came to her. She saw her hand sliding up Luke's leg, and the memory got even stronger when she recalled the moment when her hand had nowhere else to slide. She shook her head and the image vanished. "Um…" She shrugged. "I guess I was…playing with fire." She smiled weakly. "Where's Smokey Bear when you need him, huh?"

He grunted a response. "What dangerous dreams you have," he followed casually.

She sighed and dropped her head to the back of the couch. "You can say that again," she mumbled.

"What time is it?"

Lorelai lifted her head only to look at the clock on the table by the door. "Three," she answered before lowering her head back.

"Jeez. I have to get up in about two hours."

She nodded. "Five for me," she mentioned quietly.

"What's with you?" he asked, going off of her uncharacteristic tone.

She shook her head. "Just tired," she answered. The sound of Luke's moan rang through her head and she closed her eyes in search of a replacement thought. Just as she got Blondie's _Call Me_ geared up to blast away all unwelcome thoughts, she felt a touch to her leg.

Luke tapped her. "Hey, you wanna head upstairs to get some proper rest?

Her eyes went to his long, thin fingers that were now gently squeezing her below her knee. She turned and brought her feet to the floor, causing him to remove his hand. The coursing shocks came to an end, and she took a deep breath that would in a few seconds time, prove to be very efficient in erasing the memory of that particular sensation.

She looked over at him and smiled like nothing had happened. "Yeah, I'm going up. Enjoy your two hours." She stood.

He swung his legs around on the couch and proceeded to make himself comfortable. "I'll try," he responded.

She turned off the television and climbed the steps to her bedroom all while turning Blondie up more and more.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Saturday afternoon.

Lorelai hurried from the living room and into the kitchen. She passed by Luke who sat at the kitchen table.

"Timer went off," she announced.

"Yeah, I know. I was sitting right here. I heard it," he replied monotonously.

She grabbed an oven mitt and slipped it on. "Well, where's the enthusiasm?"

"What's there to be enthusiastic about?"

"I cooked!"

He was chopping green peppers on a tiny cutting board and he never looked up. "Yes," he said flatly. "And the sky banner will be here any minute." She opened the oven and took out the long cookie sheet. With a bright smile, she set it on top of the burners and slipped off her oven mitt. "How'd they turn out?" Luke asked with a brief look in her direction.

"Come see," she said waving him over.

"Commentary will be fine," he followed.

"Luke! Come look!"

"Ah jeez," he breathed out with low energy. He placed the knife to the side and slid his chair back. He came to stand by Lorelai.

He looked down at the biscuit pizzas she'd made by herself. She had done the hands-on work, but Luke did help out some. He sat in the background and read off the simple instructions to her. She found that method easier. He told her to use her fingers and spread each biscuit into its own little crust. She did that. He told her to spoon tomato sauce mixed with basil over that dough. She did that too. Then, came the truly easy part: topping the pizzas with mozzarella cheese and pepperonis. One step at a time, he got her through it. Luke had chosen to step in when Lorelai got frustrated at the sealed can of biscuits. He took both it and the recipe sheet away from her and offered to walk her through step-by-step. This was _after_ she slammed the can down and said she'd just order a real pizza instead.

Now, after thirty grueling minutes, the task was done. Luke had to admit they'd turned out pretty well.

Lorelai clasped her hands happily and looked up at him. "What do you think?"

He nodded his head. "I'm impressed. They look edible."

She squealed, and then calmed down enough to milk the compliment. "Do they really?"

"Yeah. And they smell good too," he added.

"Talk about flattery overload!" she beamed. She picked up the spatula and pointed to the tiny pizzas. "You know you have to taste one now!"

He chuckled and turned back to the table. "Yeah right. That'll be the day."

"Why?" she whined. "Remember, you _raaaaved_ about the smell!"

"I didn't rave about anything. I said it smells good, which means nothing. I also like the smell of my aftershave. Doesn't mean I want to eat it."

Lorelai shrugged carelessly.

It was after two in the afternoon now, and they had come back to Lorelai's house for lunch. At noon, she'd gone to the diner for coffee. When asked what she wanted to eat, she passed on the offer. She eagerly shared with Luke her plans to try out a recipe she'd found. She was on her way home to cook. He chuckled. That chuckle ended with an apology when he found out she was serious. She invited him over to witness her emergence in the cooking world, but Luke declined. First, it was his refusal to be her guinea pig in that new cooking world she was so excited about. Then, it was the diner. He couldn't get away until one thirty even if he wanted to. She shrugged and sat on a stool. "I can wait," was her easy response. When Luke went back to the first reason for his rejection, Lorelai waved away the excuse and told him he could bring something of his own to eat, and she'd just eat her own creation. She suggested they just have lunch together instead.

Luke gave in. He told her he was planning to go upstairs later and make himself roast beef on a sub. With her offer, he figured he could just make the sandwich at her house. She agreed to the idea.

"You wanna come up here and cook your stuff now?" she asked considerately, looking over her shoulder at him.

He finished slicing his peppers just as she asked the question. He mixed the green pepper with the other vegetable pile which he'd chopped minutes before, and then he stood up again. "Yeah," he replied. He placed the bowl on the counter then went to one of the lower cabinets where he took out a small fry pan. Lorelai held her place by the stove. Luke placed the pan on the burner and sprayed it with non-stick spray. Lorelai's hands moved to her hips as she watched him. Her biscuit pizzas cooled on the side.

"What's that for?"

He glanced at her. "What?"

She gestured with her chin. "That spray stuff."

He smiled some and concentrated on getting the heat right on the stove. "Keeps the food from sticking."

"Sticking to what?"

His smile widened. "Sticking to the pan, Lorelai," he answered patiently.

"Oh. So, it protects the pan then? Because that's a good idea. My pans haven't been through much in life, so it's wise to break them in easy."

"Well, it protects the pan, but it protects the food too."

"So, the pan is shielding itself from the food and the food is shielding itself from the pan? Don't you think that's crazy? Maybe this is all some kind of ploy. The non-stick cooking spray seems like the enemy to me. I mean, think about it. How do you know that the pan and food wouldn't get along great without the spray? _Maaaaybe_ the spray is playing mind games by making the pan and the food think they couldn't co-exist in its absence. _Maaaaybe_, this is its angle to insure everlasting product line life. This spray has deceived chefs and bakers everywhere, and it continues its trickery. It's creating conflict where maybe there's no conflict at all. Luke, you're being duped, and I don't like it. The pan and the food have rights too. I say put those two crazy kids together and forget the artificial lube."

Sigh. "Lorelai?"

She grinned. "Hm?"

"Would it be impossible for you to stand there quietly?"

"Well, not impossible. Pretty damn close to it, though," she said matter-of-factly. She raised a finger. "The question is, do I have the will power? Can I _reeeeally_ focus and get 'er done?" Luke started to answer, but she cut him off quick. "The answer is no. Sorry."

Luke shook his head, and his smile reappeared. He picked up the bowl and dumped it into the pan. Using a wooden spoon, he moved the contents around. Lorelai's eyes were trained on his profile. She watched the smile fade gradually from his lips, and hers stayed in place.

She folded her arms and dropped comfortably in her stance. "So, are you gonna stay with me for another night?" she asked casually. Because of her late Friday night dinner in Hartford, she hadn't bothered to ask the previous evening.

"Getting sick of me already?" he followed playfully.

She shifted a little. "No, just want to know when I'll be able to walk around in my undies."

He lifted his brows suggestively at her, and her smile expanded and she dropped her eyes down to her feet. She heard him laugh softly, and when she looked back up, he was once again tending to his food. "Well, don't worry," he began. "You can have your house back. I think I'm done."

"Done?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah. With this whole revenge thing." He breathed deep. "It was fun while it lasted, but it's time to go back to being mature adults now."

"Wait, I didn't agree to that!" she exclaimed, true to form.

Luke ignored her. "And there's a possibility that we're putting on a show for an empty audience now. I haven't heard from Nicole since Thursday when I showed up here. I contacted my lawyer yesterday, and he told me that everything was moving along. I stopped by the townhouse and picked up what little I had there while she was at work, and still I haven't heard a thing from her." He shrugged and continued easily, "While I was there, though, I found a lot more than foreign _socks_, so it looks like she's bouncing back pretty well to me." Lorelai nodded receptively. He looked at her. "Besides, if we keep this sleepover thing up any longer, people may start to think there's something going on," he ended as he thoughtlessly ran his hand across her arm that was still folded in front of her.

Lorelai's breathing halted.

"You know how nosy this whole damn town is," he carped. He allowed his hand to fall, and then went back to cooking.

Tingles shot across her arm. For seconds more, they raced. She pushed past it. She thought about the wallpaper for the inn and the library's book selection that she and Sookie still had yet to decide upon. What she felt was unexpected. What she felt made her eyes go back to the floor as she worked feverishly to get other thoughts flowing.

"Well um…" She lifted her eyes. "I just wanted to know," she explained half-heartedly. "Guess I won't be needing that extra place setting at dinner tonight, then."

He smirked. "You won't need the first one either. Seems a bit unnecessary when all you're going to do is scarf down Chinese in front of the TV."

She smiled at that. "No, actually it's gonna be seafood from Al's."

"Okay," he said, amused. "Pardon the assumption."

She let her hands drop to her sides. "Since we fell asleep during _Hardbodies_ last night, though, don't you think it's only right to come back tonight and give the movie its deserved respect?"

He shook his head. "It got all the respect I'm going to give it when I let you put it in."

"Look, we only saw the beginning. So, just come back over around--"

"No offense, Lorelai, but the movie sucks. I'm not really in a rush to see the rest of it," he said honestly.

She sighed and looked down at where he continued to work the long spoon around the pan. "We can watch something else if you don't want to see that one," she offered kindly.

He considered it for a moment. "I'd like that." Lorelai smiled. He wasn't done. "But I've been taking up your nights for the past few days, and I can't do that to you." He looked at her—his face lowered a bit with his eyes raised like he was peering at her over glasses. "I'm officially letting you off the hook," he finished in a low, playful tone. He gestured with the spoon. "Go back to the nights you had before I started bugging you with my drama."

Lorelai instantly remembered her half-finished scarf and what little desire she had to actually finish it.

"Yeah," she began. "My life before you is truly missed," she stated dryly.

Luke nodded. "See," he pointed out at her agreement. "I'm just in the way." He obviously didn't pick up on one ounce of her sarcasm. "Don't worry about me, Lorelai, I'll be fine," he said with certainty. "Believe me."

Luke's focus went back to the stove. Lorelai was irritated now. She rolled her eyes away from him. She looked around the kitchen where they stood side-by-side. Together in the kitchen- they were the picture of domesticity. She couldn't even find humor in the scene which she so badly felt the desire to search for. It was just her and Luke. And it was nice.

She remained irritated.

She wanted him to stay. He had said no, and now she was left with only the desire to beg and whine until he gave in. It irritated her to know how much she wanted his company. The strength of that desire was a mystery. But she knew it wasn't deeper. She _hoped_ it wasn't deeper. He was Luke, and she enjoyed being around her friend, Luke. That was all. She was not playing with fire. It was no different than wanting Sookie to stay over. And the more she repeated all of that to herself, the more irritable she became because her desire to have him stay surpassed reason and explanation.

"Luke."

"Hm?"

She was quiet for a second. Luke looked at her, and they met eyes. She diverted her attention and created a smile. "Are you, uh, going to toast your buns for your sandwich?" she asked.

He appeared unconvinced that that question was her true one. "Yeah," he answered before he frowned. "That was what you wanted to ask me?"

She nodded. "Mmhm."

"You sure?" he asked doubtfully.

"Yup." She grabbed a pepperoni off of one of her pizzas and popped it into her mouth. With her index finger, she arranged sliding pepperonis back on the biscuit. "So, that's a firm no, then?" she asked in nonchalance.

Luke grabbed the container with his roast beef. "On the movie?" She nodded while keeping her eyes on her pointless task. "Well, um…" He took notice of her mannerisms. His focus went from where she pushed pepperonis around up to her eyes which never moved.

Luke tended to overlook signals. If he slowed down enough to pay attention, he could hone in and maybe catch one. Just enough of it to question. He definitely wasn't the best at determining them on his own. With Lorelai, though, it was different. Just slightly. She usually spoke her mind, but whenever she couldn't—for whatever reason— he found that he had a knack for pinpointing the cause. When it came to her, Luke definitely earned his badge for effort.

She got his effort even when Nicole hadn't gotten any at all.

"You want me to stay," he determined.

She looked at him. A gentle smile spread over her face. She suddenly looked like a weight had been lifted. "What makes you say that?"

He shook his head away. "That big grin you're wearing on your face is one determinant," he said gruffly.

Lorelai grasped his arm and made him sway with her. "It's the movies, Luke. I need you for the movies. It used to be Rory, but she abandoned me," she exclaimed pitifully. "Do you have any idea how hurtful it is to be abandoned by your own loin fruit?"

"No, I can't say that I do know what that's like," he answered. He rocked harder and harder with her urging. He didn't say anything, though, because her sudden change in mood eased him. He always liked to see her happy. With that peace of mind came higher tolerance levels. Perfect for things like this.

She dropped her hands. "Eight o'clock okay?"

"Oh, so you just _assume_ I'm doing it?" he grumped.

She paused and answered with shyness that he wasn't expecting. "I hope so."

He didn't wait too long to let her know, "I'll be here."

She smiled. "Thank you." She leaned in and stressed, "_Hardbodies_ thanks you."

"We're not watching that," he followed without pause.

She turned and walked toward the table. "We'll see."

"No, _you'll_ see. You'll see me turning around and walking back out of here if you put that movie in again," he promised.

Lorelai sank down in a chair. She stuck her tongue at him while he still faced the stove. "Okay, you win. _Hardbodies_ is out," she acceded.

"Thank you," Luke said gratefully. He went back to preparing his deli-style sandwich fixings.

She sighed and leaned her arm on the table while supporting her chin in her open palm. Her eyes were fixed on Luke. First his head, and then his broad shoulders. Through no fault of her own, she retreated inside of her memory and suddenly she was with him on the couch. _Her hand was traveling. Luke was moaning._ She closed her eyes. '_Lorelai, you're on fire.'_ _She moved her hand up more._ '_Lorelai…'_ She fought to push past that memory, but all she heard was moaning, then her name. _Moaning and then her name. Moaning…_

"Lorelai!" Luke called loudly.

Lorelai's eyes snapped open. "What!" she exclaimed, startled.

Luke pointed. "I asked if you could pass me my bread."

"Oh." She looked in front of her and picked up the sub he was referring to. She stood, feeling disoriented. "Sorry."

He took it from her. "You're falling asleep at the table now? Are you sick?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm okay. Just resting my eyes," she lied.

He nodded. "Well, rest your eyes later. Your miniature heart attacks are getting cold," he pointed out.

She smiled a little and went to the cabinet for a plate. "Thanks." She snuck a look at Luke then looked away. She couldn't seem to shake the dream she'd had. All the stuff they'd talked about in the dream and all she could focus on was the end. The part that put them in a new and unfamiliar place with one another. And now, it appeared all she wanted to do was spend more and more time with him. Lunch. More movies on the couch. What exactly would be next? She rolled her eyes at herself.

There was no doubt about it; Lorelai Gilmore was officially playing with fire.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Later that day, Lorelai went into work for a few hours. When she got home, she only had time to step out of her shoes and jacket before she was hearing the doorbell.

She ran downstairs and opened the door for Luke. He walked inside with a plastic bag in both hands.

"Wow. Prompt," she said as she closed the door behind him.

"You said eight," he pointed out. "And it's eight."

"Hence my usage of the word _prompt_," she followed with attitude.

"Smart alec," he muttered. She snickered and followed him around the corner. He moved toward the kitchen. "How long have you been here?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Not long. Like two minutes. I was planning to get comfortable and turn into plain Jane before you showed up."

"Sorry."

"Well, it's too late now, buster. Plan's already foiled," she teased with a poke to his back. "So, what's in the bags? Looks like you went grocery shopping," she stated. She expected him to bring food, but the _Doose's_ bags full of stuff didn't seem to contain any prepared food.

Luke reached the table, and he set everything onto it. "It's just some stuff I bought," he said simply. "You need to eat something besides crap all the time."

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it. With the right seasoning, Luke, even you can appreciate a good crap dish."

He stared at her and watched her trademark smile appear and go wider at his stoicism. He wanted to remain unaffected, and the only way to do that was to turn away. So, he did that, choosing to move on to an explanation. "Anyway, I'm going to cook tonight. If you don't mind, at least."

Her eyebrows went high. "You're cooking?"

"Yeah."

"For me?"

He started unloading items. "No, for the hell of it. I figured I'd waste my time and energy then toss it once it's finished," he followed sarcastically.

She smiled. "Boy, is my kitchen getting the star treatment today! Lunch _and_ dinner action! This is a very special day for ole Kitty, here," she ended with a pat to the countertop.

"Kitty?" Luke questioned.

She nodded. "Kitty, the kitchen."

"Ah, of course. Should've known," he deadpanned.

Lorelai moved over and rested one thigh against the table. She picked up the bottle of rice wine and read the label. "So, what are you making?" she asked Luke.

"Just some stir fry. You said you were in the mood for seafood tonight, so…" He took out some fresh shrimp and held it up, "…here ya go," he finished. He set it down and continued to remove items.

Lorelai placed the bottle down and watched. "I can't believe you're cooking for me."

He never looked up. "I cook for you all the time. What's the big deal?"

She smiled softly. "You cook me food in the diner, and then I pass you money. This is very different."

He finished laying out the recipe items, and he balled the plastic bags up in his hands as he looked up at her. "Is this gonna be a problem?" he asked duly. "I can pack it up if you want."

She kept her eyes on his as she shook her head instantly. "No, no, it's not a problem. I want you to cook." She spread her arms. "_Kitty_ wants you to cook. She likes the attention."

He smiled a bit and rolled up his sleeves one by one. "So, what movie did you pick out for tonight?"

"I haven't decided yet." She watched him walk to the sink where he washed his hands with dish soap. "I figured I'd wait until you got here, and we could pick something out together."

He dried his hands on a towel and lifted his brows at her. "Jeez, I actually get a say so? I guess we better take cover because pigs are going to be flying over us in a minute."

She smiled warmly and turned, following his movements. He opened one of the higher cabinets and took out a bowl and then a drawer where he removed a spoon. He moved back to the table, his demeanor now showing how focused he was on his task.

"Can I help with something?"

He shook his head. "Didn't you say you just got home?" She nodded, but he didn't pay it any attention. He continued on anyway. "Well, you can go finish your plain Jane ritual, and I'll take care of things in here," he said simply.

"Really?" she asked just to appear helpful. She really didn't care to help with any kitchen-related task. The biscuit pizzas would have to stand alone for a while. "I can stay if you want."

"No need."

"Are you serious?" she asked, holding off a grin.

He heard the delight in her voice, but he had a lot of practice at not reacting to her appeal. "At the risk of you bouncing over here, and lord forbid, _hugging_ me in gratitude, I am quite serious." He twisted the sealed cap on the wine. "Get lost."

She wasn't planning to hug him, of course. But since he'd grimaced at the very thought, it became mandatory.

She hugged him from the side, her front to his side. Her arms wrapped around his chest and back and met on his opposite arm, and she laid her head on his shoulder. "You're the bestest guy in the whole wide world, Luke. You have Lorelai's patented seal of approval!"

His eyes rolled back in his head as she squeezed him tightly, impeding all movement. "Lucky, lucky me," he said monotonously.

She let him go and backed away. "Okay, do you know where everything is in Kitty?" she asked crucially. As soon as the words left her mouth, it registered in her brain, and she started to chuckle. But not before Luke got out his mindless follow-up.

"I've been in _Kitty_ more times than I can count. I'm aware of the layout, thank you."

Lorelai abandoned the chuckle and instead bent over in laughter. Luke looked down at her in confusion. All at once, his words came back to him, and he realized the meaning that Lorelai had taken from it—the one that was currently bringing her to tears. He shook his head and went back to preparation. His face steadily turned red.

"Nothing's sacred with you, is it?" he complained.

She erected herself and wiped water from her eyes. "Not when you present it on a silver platter like that."

He sighed. "I know my way around your kitchen, Lorelai," he rephrased.

She winked at him. "Obviously."

"For heaven's sake," he muttered.

She turned and walked away. "Well, I guess I'll head upstairs. Yell if you need me," she ended with a wave over her head.

"Thanks."

He waited a beat and looked up at her retreating form. He found his eyes going down her back. And he stopped himself. He closed his eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and placed attention back on his activity.

Lorelai made it to the stairs, and her hand wrapped around her neck as if to work out a kink. She closed her eyes and started climbing the steps. As was the case for the past two days, that darkness signaled the memory reel. There she appeared…on the couch, Luke next to her. Her hand moved blindly up the banister, the rigidity of that framework reminiscent of what was felt when she had run her hand up someplace else.

She opened her eyes and sighed. Once again, she was cranking Blondie up to the limit.

While a temporary fix, it was a fix.

Lorelai took her hand from the banister and lowered it safely to her side.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai leaned on the back of Luke's chair. She smiled at the picture that he looked down at with contempt.

"I didn't know you had evidence of this."

She slid the picture from his fingers and brought it closer to her own face. "Well, of course I do, Luke. You don't expect me to let you go to my kid's caterpillar funeral without obtaining a little blackmail, do you?"

"Destroy that," he ordered. He leaned all the way back in the kitchen chair and folded his arms.

Lorelai placed both hands across the back of the chair and hovered over him with laughter. "Sorry, no can do. I can hold off on framing it for a while longer, though."

He looked up at her briefly. "I barely knew you then. Why'd you even feel the need to take that?"

"Cause I thought you were hot," she teased as she slid into her own chair beside him. He rolled his eyes and she smiled gently. "I took a picture of everybody," she admitted. "Everybody who put their life on pause, put on fancy clothes, and came to support a young stranger's kid at a silly memorial service."

Luke watched the meaning of that settle into the hypnotizing blueness of her eyes. There was a moment of quiet as eyes scanned eyes. It wasn't long before they looked away at the same time. Luke cleared his throat and finally came back with, "I didn't get dressed up."

Lorelai smiled and absently ran her hands down her bare thighs and to her legs. "You took off your hat. For you, that's like throwing on a tux."

He looked down at the table. "And I didn't stay long either," he carped.

"Well…it didn't last long," she followed with amusement.

"And as I recall, I didn't even make it there on time. By the time I got there, the--"

"And you didn't smile; and you stayed in the back; and you didn't talk to anyone; and you thought the whole thing was ridiculous and a waste of time…yada, yada, effin' yada." She stopped and gave him a pointed look. "Play tough guy all you want. But you were there, Luke. You were there for Rory. There's no way you can play that down to me."

He gave her no expression. Just stared. Then the corner of his mouth went up and he diverted his eyes. "So, um…" He pointed off to the side, "do you think we're going to get to the movie sometime tonight?"

Luke had cooked, Lorelai had showered, and they'd eaten together at the table over an hour ago. Conversation kept them in place. They stared frequently and seemed to share in the embarrassment each time. Still, there remained an inability to disturb the atmosphere. The movie had become an afterthought.

Lorelai looked over at the time and saw that it was a little after ten. "We still can if you want."

He checked the time as well before he scratched his head thoughtfully. He found that he wasn't exactly ready to end the night. Maybe because he'd already prepared himself to have it end with Lorelai's endless commentary for some tasteless movie. Or maybe it was because after years of knowing her, he still didn't know what it was like to get tired of her company.

He was fine with staying. Caesar was going to open the diner, so work wasn't an issue at all. But indifference was what he knew. It always kept trouble away when it came to Lorelai. He replied, "I don't care either way. It's up to you."

She shrugged. "I say let's do it." They met eyes.

"Watch…the movie…" Luke added gradually in clarification.

Lorelai took in a breath and nodded at the same time. "Yeah. Of course." Her eyes dropped from his and to his plate as she reached for it, along with her own. "I'm going to clean up first, though if you don't mind."

Luke drew a look of confusion. "Seriously?"

She smiled. "Washing dishes is fun. Like a Jacuzzi experience for the hands."

He smirked and sat back. "You're weird, Lorelai."

"Can never get tired of hearing that," she replied with a wink. She stood up and walked to the sink. "Hey, if you want, you can go pick out a movie. I have a couple on the TV stand in the living room, but most are upstairs. I'm sure you'll find something worthy of consciousness."

"Upstairs in your bedroom?"

She faced the sink. "Yeah. Right when you walk in; you can't miss them." She turned on the faucet. "I'll trust that you won't go through my underwear drawer while you're up there," she added playfully. She pivoted to see his reaction.

He rolled his eyes at her regard. She snickered and turned back. "I don't even know where your underwear drawer is," he mumbled.

"Good!" she exclaimed. "And you're not gonna know—_first drawer on the left_—because it's none of your business! Now, go up there alone right now while I wash these, uh…" She looked around, "…fifteen minutes worth of dishes. And whatever you do, don't you dare look in the bottom drawer of my nightstand! There's a munchkin in there that will jump out and...and bite off your fingernail. And a lot of people like to bite off their own fingernails, so that's what makes it horrific!"

Luke stood up. "Not only are you weird, but now I see you're cracked too." Lorelai chuckled. He went to the stove and gathered some more things to be washed and brought them to the sink where she stood. "I'll just help you with these," he ended as he set everything down on the side.

She looked over at him. "I've got it," she followed lightly.

He watched the sink fill with dishwater. "What, you think you're the only one whose hands could use some Jacuzzi relaxation time?" he quipped. He held his hands out in front of both of them. "I want some action too."

She grinned. "Oh, how rude of me. You wanna get in here?" she asked sweetly.

Luke smiled and shook off that goofiness. "I just want to help. I'll rinse and dry; how 'bout that?"

She scooted over some. "Sounds doable."

With suds nearly overflowing in the sink, Lorelai turned the faucet away and began to wash plates. She moved the sponge slowly over the plate while trying to get her mind to focus on something other than Luke's proximity. His elbow touched hers. She took a small breath. His arm grazed her, and just like that she and he were back on that damn couch.

"Here ya go." She passed him the clean plate and he rinsed it, and then walked toward the cabinet as he dried it thoroughly.

She breathed a lighter breath with him gone.

Then, just like that, he was back beside her. And her breath went back to the foreign place.

She washed the other plate, all while thinking how lame the whole scene was.

"Wash slower. Please," Luke said sarcastically.

She looked up at him. "Excuse me, but am I telling you how to rinse and put away?" she snapped. He smiled wide while watching her hands work. "Didn't think so." She pushed her hip into his, taking her taunt to the physical. He laughed.

Okay. The scene—not so lame.

She finished washing the plate and passed it over. Luke rinsed it, and he turned to walk to the cabinet but paused at Lorelai's outcry. His front was facing her since he was about to walk away, and she shrieked and hopped in his direction. His eyes wide, he bobbed his head up and down to see what she pointed at. All he could see, though, was dark hair that covered his face. Finally, with her pressing herself further and further against him to back away, he saw the harmless long-legged spider hurrying along the wall.

Every part of her body bounced against him at her near breakdown, but all Luke could concentrate on was how painful it was with her repeatedly stepping all over his shoes.

He dropped the plate back in the dishwater and wrapped his left arm fully around her waist. "Lorelai! Hey, Lorelai, look." He tossed the dishtowel over the spider since Lorelai was making it impossible for him to do anything else. "Look! See, it's gone," he said with a point. He and she were now several inches from the sink. Lorelai's panic had pushed them back.

She calmed down and opened her eyes. She scanned the area. "Where'd it go?"

Luke made sure it was still covered. "It's gone," he repeated in an exhausted tone.

"You sure?"

He nodded, and his chin rubbed against her hair. Both of Lorelai's hands were clutching the forearm of the arm that was wrapped around her. Her hold softened, and then she was just resting her hands on him. He squeezed her a little as he asked, "Are you okay now?"

She nodded. "Thanks. Spiders freak me out."

"You don't say!" he chided, pain still in his toes and her still in his embrace.

She smiled and rubbed a gentle stroke across his arm in gratitude. Luke's annoyance fell away, and he noticed in an instant that Lorelai's bottom was over his crotch. One second turned to two, which turned to three, and she remained in place. It was up to him to remove his arm and step away, but he held her like the threat was still present and she needed protection.

Luke's feet were on the outside of hers. He took a step and she moved with him. He took another, and she did too. He walked her back to the sink, his pace slow— _their_ pace slow. When she made it there, her hands went from Luke's arm to the edge of the sink. Luke still remained close. Her front was pressed lightly onto the sink, and he was on her in the back. Her head dropped, and she watched him slowly slide his arm from her waist. He stayed against her.

She closed her eyes. Wishing, hoping. She wasn't sure. But when he stepped away, she was positive she'd never felt such a bold disappointment before in her life. This wasn't a dream. What she was feeling was not a dream, and Blondie could do nothing to help.

Luke reached around her and took the towel with the trapped spider. "I'll be right back," he said.

Lorelai didn't move. Part of her was still in shock at what had just happened. The other part hoped that he'd return and pick up where he'd left off. Take it further and further until there was nowhere else to take it. He dispelled that hope when he came back a minute later with a new dishtowel and got beside her once again. Ready to rinse and dry. Lorelai braced herself and looked over at him. Thoughts came of him against her, him and her on the couch. Light moans. Heavy breaths.

She turned away. Turned and leaned against the sink. Luke's eyes finally went to her, but her focus was now across the kitchen. Aimed at a far wall. There was something she wanted to say but hadn't the slightest idea of how to get it out. She just appeared thoughtful, like she was going back and forth in her own head. Battling. Maybe losing, maybe winning. Luke couldn't tell. But her mind spun like a Ferris wheel.

He studied her deliberation. He didn't have to think too hard about the point of focus because he was sure he had plenty to do with it.

He'd held her in the most intimate way and had almost refused to let go. As he stood watching her decide how to handle the situation, he couldn't even drum up decent words for an apology. Because all he could think about was touching her again.

He didn't think about his actions before he stepped in her line of sight. Her eyes went from the wall and immediately to him. They stared from this new distance. Luke took a breath to steady his nerves and he leaned in. With a desire to test the waters, he got as close as he could without touching her lips. The sweet scent of her hair floated toward him. Her freshly showered skin had an engaging aroma all its own. Those were the first two things he noticed because, despite what he thought might happen, she did not back away. The third came in the form of touch. Her fingers were really soft. Even on his scruffy cheek, he could tell this when she gently ran her fingertips down his face when he leaned in more.

He covered her lips, and she moaned.

Luke's brain screamed 'yes' and 'more'. Reciprocity was something that he'd never really imagined would happen with Lorelai. She rubbed his flannel-covered chest, and Luke touched a hand to her side.

They disengaged softly. Lorelai took a settling breath and opened her eyes to him. His fluttered as he looked at her with want. She touched his face again, and his eyes closed. "Luke," she whispered. He swallowed, and in the next second, her lips were kissing his. It was delicate and soft. Luke allowed her to set the pace of that kiss, and his lips only followed the easy rhythm of hers. She pulled away and kept her face close as she moved her body into his more. Luke walked forward and made her backside lean against the sink. His body had already started reacting. She moaned at the contact.

He took her face in his palm and leaned in determinately. His intention wasn't to shatter Lorelai's previous rhythm, but that's exactly what he did. They opened up to one another, and suddenly it went from light and lingering to deep and mind-blowing. They found a new rhythm—a much more pleasing one. Luke wrapped his arms around her waist, and Lorelai hugged him closer as well.

Breaths started getting denser, and they had to break. Luke's mouth went smoothly from her mouth to her jaw and down to her neck. Lorelai whispered "god" to the ceiling as she stroked his neck with one hand and clutched his shoulder with the other. She was losing herself to the feeling his tongue. And his arousal was making her head spin like an old record on a turntable. She lifted her leg without thought and rested her thigh against Luke's hip.

He brought his mouth back to hers and they entered another passionate round. He grinded her exposed center and had her grinding back. Lorelai's intensity went out of control at the stimulation.

She was into this man. Mind, body, and soul. For the longest, she'd been oblivious. With his hands on her body, all that was hidden came spilling out into the light. She cared for him so deeply. But when she felt hardness between her legs, her mind went foggy. It reminded her that it had been over a year for her. It'd been three hundred sixty-five plus days since she'd felt anything _remotely_ close to that.

She was so turned on, she risked drowning in her own juices.

Using her hands, she slid herself up on the sink's edge and then pulled Luke in more. Tongues glided. She grasped both sides of his face momentarily and kissed him without distraction. She found true joy in kissing lips that seemed to be made for that very activity.

Luke's hands slid down her smooth thighs…then up her smooth thighs. Her cotton shorts were cut-offs and already short in length, but as he moved his hands up, his fingers pushed them higher and would have been caressing her bare bottom if it weren't for the sink under her.

Mouths parted.

Fiery blue eyes were what both Luke and Lorelai stared into as heavy breaths escaped them. They lowered them at the same moment: Luke's to her thighs that he continually rubbed and Lorelai's to his flannel buttons which she was now undoing.

She made it to the last button at the bottom, and her feet went behind his thighs and she pulled him in. Their eyes locked again, and her lip went between her teeth as she undid his belt buckle. She swallowed at the adoration that rested in his gaze, and his desire seeped through his pores and made him hot to the touch. When he took his hands up her thighs, his thumbs started getting closer to the spread in her legs. In the midst of loosening his belt, she took the cap from his head and laid it beside her. Then both hands were back on the leather strap.

"Anybody ever tell you that you wear way too many clothes?" she whispered. She reached inside of his loose pants and stroked his shaft.

Luke's mouth fell open and his eyes dropped to her shorts and small t-shirt. With his hands now roaming over her body, he'd come to see that she wore nothing under either of those. "So do you," he whispered back.

She removed her hand from his pants and started sliding his undershirt up. "Let's fix that," she followed. It slid over his head, and Luke's mouth crashed into hers. The kiss turned heated right away. With his pants undone, they started to slide down on their own. Luke clumsily stepped from his boots and his height decreased. Lorelai already grew frustrated with her inability to feel him from her position on the counter, and that change in height only made it worse.

She slid forward and down, coming directly onto the tent in his boxers. Her feet hit the floor, and he grasped both thighs and placed them around his waist. Her shirt came off, and then they were both naked from the waist up. Luke's mouth moved over her nipple. He sucked her breast and had her taking in oxygen on a choppy breath. He moved over and gave the other just as much attention before he was going to her neck.

She whispered his name and rubbed his back, taking his hair between her fingers every so often.

Once again, she planted both feet on the floor. Her mouth connected with Luke's, and she walked into him as her hands went to the top of his boxers.

Never before had she had such freedom in her home. She'd always had Rory living there and that limited what little activity there was to her bedroom. Luke's naked body would be the first that Kitty had ever seen. She was, without doubt, getting broken in properly.

Luke's bottoms were removed and he sat in a kitchen chair that Lorelai guided him into. She leaned over him and kissed him deeply as she rested her hands on his thighs. He felt one hand leave his thigh and then there were pleasure-filled strokes to his center.

They pulled away, and Lorelai kneeled in front of him. She ran her hand up and down at different speeds as she watched his features. That stare only led to another kiss. When his mouth left hers that time, her lips went to the head of his erection. Luke grasped the table and watched fixedly as she sucked and fondled him. He ran his hand through her hair and tightened every time she increased suction. She flicked her tongue and made the journey down, then up his shaft while sharing in his enjoyment. Luke got caught up in the feeling and mesmerized by the show she put on.

He had to back away when he felt he was starting to enjoy it a little too much.

Lorelai stood up and straddled him in the chair. Their lips came together, and they went into a slow, deep kiss with them both moaning openly. Luke went up the leg of her shorts and pressed his finger onto her love bump. She gyrated in his lap and sucked his bottom lip. Seconds later, they were slipping back into the passionate tongue on tongue.

His finger slipped inside her, and she reacted in a way that caused him to immediately stand up, place her across the table, and give her a taste of true pleasure.

With her hips on the edge and her legs over his shoulders, Luke used his tongue to make her moan.

Her clit stood out like the queen of the honeycomb, and he proceeded to pay all due respect. Within seconds, she climaxed, and it told him it'd been a while since she'd been touched like that. He licked delicately. Her rotating hips sent another message saying she didn't require the consideration. He went back in and sucked harder, challenging her strength. He intended to find her breaking point and stomp it into the ground.

He used tongue and lips to shower her with attention. Two fingers—index and middle—went inside of her and overwhelmed her senses. He listened as her breathing got louder. Her pants ended in a short scream when she hit another peak. That climax caused her back to arch and the rest of her to stiffen.

Her devastating wetness had Luke in near pants, himself.

He stood up, and Lorelai held her hand out to him, silently asking him to help slide her weak body from that position. When on her feet, she turned and leaned her back onto Luke while her hand stroked him from behind. He wrapped her waist and sucked her neck.

She broke away from him, and with clear meaning, she bent down and grasped the edge of the table while looking over her shoulder at him. She winded her ass against his hardness.

A year.

A full year without intimacy had her ready to get right down to business.

Her body throbbed. The treasure between her legs throbbed. As she had been in her dream, she was on fire. And the line that she'd crossed with Luke had her realizing that he was the perfect person to extinguish it. There was attraction there. There were feelings there. There was a history.

It was Luke.

He rubbed a hand down her spine and ended at the hill of her bottom. He stepped between her spread legs and put his tip against her narrow opening. Taking hold of her hips, he gently pulled her backwards while Lorelai carefully pushed in the same direction.

Her eyes slid closed.

"_Ooohhh gooddd_," she uttered approvingly.

He went in fully, and Lorelai's knuckles whitened as she gripped the table harder.

"Jeez, Lorelai," he whispered. She was so tight.

He extracted slowly and kept that pace for several more strokes before he increased speed. Her body opened up, and they both got comfortable with the feel. It wasn't hard for Luke to see that this was an optimal position for her. Her moans intensified, and she began to meet him stroke for stroke, pound for pound. They both lost control momentarily, and Luke had to bring it back when she let out a scream loud enough to wake up Miss Patty all the way across town.

He slowed, and she paused to regroup. Sweat had formed along her back. She got her balance back and started a faster pace again. Luke gripped her securely and pulled her onto his growing inches hard. Her hand left the table and she placed fingers on her clit.

"Mmmm," she moaned.

Luke leaned forward and stimulated her nipples before slipping back into the pace that she seemed to appreciate.

"Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes…" She worked her fingers more quickly. "Like that, Luke. Harder…_mmmmmmmmm_."

She climaxed in a big way. Her knees went lax. Luke moved in and pushed more of her body on the table so she wouldn't fall on the floor. She supported herself with her forearms and slowed her movement only a bit. She winded now. And had Luke doing the same. Her moans changed up and got sweet and languorous. Then she was pushing herself onto him again, her walls tightening and squeezing skillfully.

Luke asked her to touch herself again, and she did.

Her body threatened a repeat explosion. She fought it the best she could as she worked to get him there.

Luke strangled a moan and penetrated her at a quicker pace which told Lorelai he was close. His strokes caused her to lose a battle and she buried her face in her arm as she peaked again. His speed remained relentless. Magnificent. It nearly caused her to experience number three before number two ended. She could feel it building. Growing. Then, he pulled out.

He groaned out her name and released.

They both let out a breath of satisfaction.

Luke rubbed her side affectionately and kissed her lower back before he moved away. "Let me go get a towel," he said quickly. With weak vocals, Lorelai chuckled. That's what Luke came back to. "What?" he asked as he wiped his seed from her skin.

She allowed him to finish before she stood. She faced him with an exhausted smile covering her face. "You're something else, you know that?"

He couldn't help but look down at her nudity. "Whaddya mean?"

She just smiled wider and shook her head. Only he would rush off after an experience like that out of fear that he'd disrespected her in some way. She took his hand and pulled him close to her. "Never mind," she whispered against his lips. They kissed softly several times before Lorelai was smiling endearingly.

Luke kissed that smile, and then asked, "What now?"

Her eyes dropped down his body before she regarded him with a grin. "I've got my very own Milton Berle."

He looked down his own naked body. Realizing what she meant, he shook his head and kept it low to cover the redness in his cheeks. Lorelai splayed her hand over his cheek and gently urged him to look at her. He did. Her grin receded. Her voice got softer, more serious. "All these years…this is what I've been missing, huh?"

Luke's eyes moved between hers before he leaned in and kissed her. They parted. "What do you say we go upstairs?"

She eyed him with suspicion. "Trying to get me in bed?"

He sighed. "Are you going to be this exhausting all the time?" he asked gruffly.

She winked. "Guess you'll have to stick around and find out."

"God help me," he mumbled.

She gave him a playful scowl before taking his arm and walking toward the stairs. "Glad you're going to spend the night again." She quietly relayed that sentiment before her voice returned to normal. "Third night's the charm, too. You get upgraded to the deluxe suite," she finished with a finger pointed at her bedroom.

Luke rolled his eyes and followed her up.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai was lying on her side facing the window when Luke came back into the room.

She had showered first, and he'd just returned from the bathroom after washing away sweat from their session downstairs.

She turned on her back just in time to see his naked body before he covered it with blankets. She smiled. "You have no idea how close I am to going to your apartment and just burning all of your clothes right now."

He settled himself. "Hate the flannel that much, do you?" he joked.

She shook her head. "No, I _love_ your assets that much."

He smirked. "Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome, I suppose," she mocked.

He sighed and propped his hands under his head. Lorelai moved over, kissed his chest, and then laid her head on his shoulder. He brought his hand down and rubbed her arm. His face went to the top of her head, and he lingered there for seconds before he kissed.

She chuckled and rubbed his stomach. "Did you just smell my hair?"

He paused. "No."

"You so did."

"No, I didn't," he defended unconvincingly.

"Sorry, I guess the sniffing sound threw me off." Her hand continued to move over his stomach, and it dipped below his waist. She took him securely in her hand.

He rolled his eyes. "So, I like the way your hair smells. Sue me."

"Sue you? No. I'd rather do other things to you," she replied coyly. She didn't stroke or stimulate; she just held him while running her thumb over the head. Still, it didn't take long before he was expanding and causing her fingers to spread more and more.

He moved his hand up and down her arm thoughtfully as they entertained silence. "Who would've thought this night would have ended like this? Me and you…here."

"I have no complaints," she revealed quietly.

"Me either."

Her fingers glided down his shaft. Observing. She marveled at growth that wasn't yet complete.

"You know Luke…" Her voice lowered to a near whisper, "it broke my heart when I found out you'd gotten married."

Luke's hand movement paused, and then he started back slow. "If only you knew. I would have bagged the whole trip if you had given me one sign, Lorelai," he admitted. "Any sign."

She smiled as she finally started to stroke him. "Fine time to tell me."

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. "Too little, too late, huh?"

"For that, yeah. But for this…" She made him moan. "....not so much."

He smiled. "Thank god."

She removed her hand and slid up so her face was closer to his. She kissed his cheek softly. "I'm glad I didn't miss my shot."

He turned his head and looked at her in the dark room. Her bright eyes scanned his. Luke rolled in her direction, causing her to go flat on her back. She spread her legs around him when he got on top of her. He looked down into her face and finally responded. "And I'm glad to _finally_ have mine."

Lorelai's lips spread wide. "You just had to outdo me, didn't you?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in. "I was expecting you to gush a little. I mean, I kissed your cheek for heaven's sake." Her mouth went to his and they shared a deep kiss that lasted seconds. She pulled back and continued. "And instead, you flipped the script." She moved in and kissed him again. "Now, look at me. _I'm_ the gusher. Gush, gush, gush." They locked lips again and stayed kissing for the better part of a minute.

Luke slid down her body. "I think I'm a fan of the gush," he revealed.

She chuckled.

He used his mouth to bring her nipples to life. He stayed additional minutes as she seemed to enjoy the attention given. With her moans floating to his ears, he dropped a kiss between her breasts, and then to her stomach, on down. Lorelai's body felt alive. So very alive.

She smiled and relaxed her body. Because she knew that this was only the beginning.

His unshaven cheek scraped along the inside of her thigh. She took hold of the bed sheets surrounding her.

"Lucas, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship."

His tongue touched her center, and she tossed her head back in bliss.

**-The End-**

Let me know your thoughts/ opinions, Readers.

Thanks bunches!!!!! :)))))


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